EQ Tickets is a startup that aims to combine the online ticket-buying experience with a social network, offering users the opportunity to discover and attend live events in a more engaging way. Founded by brothers Aaron and Ryan Caradonna along with hip-hop artist Matt Raposo, EQ Tickets promises to offer cheaper ticket prices than its competitors operating in similar secondary markets. In addition, the company aims to expand into the primary ticket business to generate additional revenue and compete with platforms such as Eventbrite.
The history of EQ Tickets
The history of EQ Tickets begins with Aaron Caradonna, who from a young age had a great passion for sports and entertainment. Aaron and his brother were often at stadiums long before events began to try to get autographs from players. Although Aaron initially pursued a career as a lawyer instead of becoming a sports agent, he worked extensively with event venues during his legal career. Meanwhile, his brother Ryan worked at a ticketing company after a previous experience at JP Morgan. Through their shared skills and interests, together with Matt Raposo, they founded EQ Tickets.
EQ Tickets: a platform for secondary tickets.
Initially, EQ Tickets focused on developing a platform for secondary tickets, similar to StubHub, Vivid Seats, or SeatGeek. The company partnered with ticket providers to offer a large and competitive inventory. The distinguishing feature of EQ Tickets is transparent pricing, with tickets that can be up to 20-30% cheaper than other similar sites. This policy has attracted much attention and interest from the public.
EQ Tickets: a social network for fans
However, EQ Tickets has not limited itself to being just a ticket-selling platform. The company wanted to add a social layer to the experience, allowing users to follow events and people they are interested in. This social networking feature helps fans of the same teams, events, or musical artists find other fans and make connections. For example, if a user is interested in attending a local field hockey game, they can use EQ Tickets to find another fan who does not want to go alone. In addition, with the bookmarking feature, users can show their interest in upcoming events and attract the attention of other interested people.
EQ Tickets: a platform for big events.
In addition to secondary ticket sales, EQ Tickets recently launched a platform for primary tickets. This allows users to purchase not only tickets for main events, but also tickets for related events such as pre-game parties or after-event parties. EQ Tickets aims to become a one-stop shop for all aspects of events, offering a complete solution for fans.
Successes of EQ Tickets
Despite remaining in stealth mode until now, EQ Tickets has already generated six figures in gross sales and its early users are using social features to participate in the event experience. The platform also has a 30 percent customer retention rate, indicating good success among early users. EQ Tickets is currently available on the web and mobile devices, but it plans to launch a native mobile application by the end of the year.
Funding and future prospects
EQ Tickets secured a $2 million financing from Sage Venture Partners, led by former Apple investor Fred Warren. This financing allowed the company to develop its platform and expand into the primary ticket market. With initial success and the promise of competitive pricing, EQ Tickets is gearing up for a promising future in the event and sports industry.
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