Richard Green, CEO and Founder of Evvnt, tells GBI Magazine about how he has developed his business:
In 2012 I took the decision to launch my own business: Evvnt, an events marketing platform. Now, six years on, the company is taking an exciting leap across the Atlantic to set up new operations in the US.
In short, Evvnt is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) tool available via an online or mobile platform. It enables organisers – from nightclub owners through to venues arranging a business conference – to receive greater exposure for their events.
Whereas previously people who have been faced with the cumbersome task of having to create manual listings on each different website they wanted their event to be shown on, this process is now fully automated by Evvnt. Using the platform ensures a single listing is aggregated across thousands of relevant event listing sites, calendars, directories, ticketing hubs, social networks and search engines, saving companies time and money while also increasing the number of potential attendees who will find out about the event.
This core offering has performed well. In fact, with steady year-on-year growth, to date Evvnt has worked with more than 30,000 clients in over 135 countries worldwide. And now, international expansion beckons.
Indeed, one of the greatest advantages of the SaaS model is that it can be easy to grow the solution and enter new markets – something we have already done by working with event planners and venues across the globe. But in order to create strong, long-term strategic partnerships it has become necessary for Evvnt to grow its physical presence beyond London.
Excitingly, in June this year the business entered into an agreement for a $450,000 investment from three US newspapers: TBC Media, Trib Total Media and the Sun Coast Media Group. The funding is, naturally, vital for the company to establish itself in this new territory – but equally important are the partners that have bought into the Evvnt proposition.
In working with news and media companies in the US over recent years, it became clear to me that there was a huge opportunity to really disrupt the way events were marketed across the country. As such, it was essential that Evvnt was able to build close relationships with the major players in this space, and to have three leading US news organisations invest in the business, use its services and become resellers for Evvnt is hugely promising. What’s more, these major newspaper firms are also using Evvnt to amplify exposure of their own in-house events.
Through this investment and the new partnerships it has forged in the US, Evvnt aims to introduce its services to the 9,660 news publishing sites across the US that currently pay for non-revenue-generating licensed services – services that cost publishers money.
Meanwhile, the company looks to capitalise on the momentum building State-side back in the UK; Evvnt is seeking further investment of £2.2 million to expand its customer-base, grow the network of event listing sites and calendars it works with, and increase the size of its team, both in London and the US.
With a market-reading solution, six years of impressive operations behind it and new opportunities opening up overseas, the Evvnt team and myself are excited and hugely optimistic about what the coming 12 months have in store. And as ever, securing investment from the right sources as well as identifying the best opportunities for new partnerships will remain integral to the company’s long-term success.
