Tiqets raises €20M funding: How an almost bankrupt startup is now growing so fast

Dutch ticketing platform, Tiqets has announced that it has secured $23 million (€20 million) funding recently. This adds to the previous investment of $17 million (€15 million) series B funding raised in May 2017 led by HPE Growth Capital. With the latest investment, Tiqets plans to develop its technology and grow enormously.

Talking about the recent funding round, Simon Breakwell, chairman of the board stated: “Tiqets’ growth is exceptional, we are incredibly product-driven and, as a result, we have been able to scale at capital-efficiency levels that are unparalleled in the industry. I have enormous respect for how the team continuously strives for innovation, with great insight into the market need,”.

Founded in Amsterdam in 2014 by Luuc Elzinga, Tiqets is now a widespread scaleup with its presence in several markets including Philadelphia, Bangkok, London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona and Vienna. Though the company has witnessed tremendous growth in the last three years, it did have a tough beginning. The fast-growing platform enables consumers to book tickets for museums and attractions across the world seamlessly and lets venues reach a global audience using mobile technology.

As per a report by TheNextWeb citing the information provided by its founder, Tiqets had premium clients on board in just two months of launch. But they faced major issues with the product. The customer experience wasn’t proper and their Net Promoter Score (NPS) was dropping. So, it was a tough time for the startup. However, the startup that was once almost going bankrupt is one of the fastest growing companies in Europe. Here’s how the company made it so far.

#1 Makes it simple and easy for users

Tiqets uses a unique technology to meet the rising demand for last-minute tickets to museums and attractions across the world. The platform provides instant delivery without any necessity to print the tickets. Customers can buy entry tickets for venues using their smartphones. And, will receive the tickets on their mobiles without waiting in long queues at the entrance. Going by the press release, as of August 2018, almost 500,000 people booked with Tiqets. The platform reached a milestone of 7 million tickets distributed till date.

#2 Makes contracts directly with venues

Tiqets has teamed up with most museums and attractions across the world in order to let people enter the venue without any last minute hassles. As they went down suddenly in the middle of a seed funding round, they had to negotiate and make contracts and partnerships directly with the venues. As per the company, Tiqets connects with over two thousand venues in 140 cities (bookable in 9 languages). Notably, it is the world’s highest rated company in the tours and activities space and has managed to acquire a score of 9.4 on Trustpilot, which is known for customer reviews.

#3 Listens to clients

In order to make a difference in the ticket booking space, Tiqets started focusing on getting direct feedback from their customers. Those at the scaleup listens to their potential clients to know how good they should be. Luuc Elzinga, CEO and founder of Tiqets said: “Next to our own B2C platform, we support our venues by developing the best solutions to improve their own customer experience, provide them with technology that helps increase conversion onsite, and increase the CLTV (Customer Lifetime Value).”

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