The current secondary ticket exchange system is fraught with several issues, such as tickets being resold at prices much higher than their face value, exorbitant fees and other additional costs. Not to mention the risk of purchasing counterfeit or invalid tickets, resulting in a disappointing user experience.
CrowdVolt wants to disrupt the space with its user-centric, bid-ask ticket marketplace, which aims to give buyers an affordable ticket price with full transparency. A graduate of Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 batch, CrowdVolt operates on a model similar to sneaker resell marketplace StockX, meaning buyers submit bids on tickets, and sellers set asking prices. When a bid aligns with an ask, the transaction is complete.
The platform’s bid-ask model could appeal to concertgoers because it allows them to name their desired price. Traditionally, secondary ticket marketplaces are focused on how much the seller wants to sell a ticket for, but CrowdVolt changes that. CrowdVolt also enables buyers and sellers to message each other, making ticket-buying less anonymous.
Earlier this year, CrowdVolt raised $1.4 million in funding; it’s backed by Brickyard VC, Goodwater Capital and Pioneer Fund, as well as angel investors such as YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim. The company plans to use the new capital to launch in additional markets in a few months, starting with Miami, Chicago and various cities in California. The funding will also go toward product development.
CrowdVolt launched in late January and specifically caters to rave and EDM (electronic dance music) fans. It’s currently only available in New York, with the majority of venues located in Brooklyn, which is a popular destination among the EDM crowd.
The startup’s journey began with three friends — Max Hammer (CEO), Josh Karol (CTO) and Aria Mohseni (COO) — who all share a deep love for EDM. Their personal frustration with the current ticketing process led them to create a platform designed to meet buyers’ needs.
“One of our co-founders [Mohseni] is a DJ, so we started to go to a lot of events and found the [ticketing] process particularly friction intensive and opaque, ranging from releases six to nine months in advance to unclear buying processes with incumbents in the space,” Hammer told TechCrunch. “Other platforms lack buyer intent … We have a true-sided marketplace.”
The startup launched at an opportune time, given that one of the largest players, Ticketmaster, is in hot water. Apart from being under fire for its excessively high service charges, the Department of Justice recently filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging monopolistic practices. The company also confirmed that it was hacked, resulting in a data breach and theft of personal information.
CrowdVolt has grown to over 3,000 active users across around 250 listed events.
The platform is currently only available on the web, but the company plans to launch a mobile app in six months.
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