Blockchain Ticketing Startup Celebratix Raises $1.15 Million

Blockchain-powered “smart ticketing” startup Celebratix has secured $1.15 million (€1.1 million) in fresh funding and disclosed aggressive expansion plans.

The Amsterdam-headquartered ticketing platform's latest raise came to light in a Dutch-language report from the Netherlands' Quote. Founded in 2022 by Frank Roskam, Celebratix leverages Solana and aims “to unlock event revenue and customer data before, during & after events,” according to the appropriate website.

That refers in large part to enabling better control over ticketing – with an eye on improved security (especially for resale), organization, and marketing, according to Google's translation of the mentioned report. Regarding promotion, Celebratix reportedly allows organizers to encourage customers to purchase additional in-app tickets for other attendees, to name one example.

At present, Celebratix says it handles ticketing for around 40 events per month, including happenings at Amsterdam nightclubs as well as festivals like Multigroove. And Roskam, who doubles as CEO, has not hesitated to disclose aggressive international expansion plans.

These plans already extend to Germany (where the startup recently launched), although the higher-up is also targeting a push into Scandinavia and the UK

“With this new funding,” Roskam relayed on LinkedIn, “we're entering an exciting scaling phase. Having already made waves in the Netherlands and Germany, we're now gearing up to expand further into the UK, Sweden, and beyond!

“From tackling ticket fraud to empowering event organizers with full control over sales and data, we're redefining what ticketing can be,” the 26-year-old continued, claiming in a separate statement that his business is “perfectly positioned to challenge the incumbent ticketing companies like Ticketmaster.”

At the intersection of the global expansion and the funding round's participants, Stockholm VC uBit put up a portion of the capital. So did existing backer (and Creative Clicks founder) Taco Ketelaar, Dutch professional racing driver Giedo van der Garde, and Denise Boekhoorn (Van der Garde's wife and the daughter of billionaire businessman Marcel Boekhoorn).

Taking a step back, despite the solid financials (swear continued criticism) of Live Nation's well-entrenched Ticketmaster, the ticketing space is hardly lacking funding, competitors, and deals. To be sure, emerging players like Seat Unique are benefiting from multimillion-dollar raises, and StubHub is reportedly (still) plotting a massive IPO.

Meanwhile, TickPick scored a $250 million round in August, CTS Eventim over the summer scooped up Vivendi's See Tickets (and certain festivals) for $314 million at the current dollar-euro exchange rate, and reports have pointed to Dice's exploring a sale valuing it in the hundreds of millions of dollars.