Philippine blockchain-enabled ticketing startup Ticket2Me is raising $750,000 or P40.5 million in fresh funds this year to finance its global expansion.
Ticket2Me Founder Darwin Mariano said in an interview that the company has started its Series A funding round for a small number of qualified investors to help push its expansion plans.
Mariano said the company targets to raise $750,000 to support its global expansion.
“The first target expansion will be in Singapore because we already have Singaporean partners,” he said.
The Philippines’ first fully digital ticketing and video platform for online and offline events, on Friday announced the investment of Filipino actor Enrique Gil and his manager Ranvel Rufino in Ticket2Me’s parent company in Singapore.
“Post investment, they [Gil and Rufino] will be owning 4 percent in Ticket2Me,” Mariano said, adding that their total investment amounted to P12 million.
According to him, the money will be used for the continued technology enhancement and expansion of Ticket2Me which has an estimated valuation of P300 million.
In 2019, Ticket2Me secured a $350,000 or P18 million seed funding from Singapore-based Citystate Group Pte. Ltd.
Enrique and Rufino will receive proportionate equity in the company, with Ranvel taking a seat on the company’s board of directors and Enrique becoming Ticket2Me’s new CMO.
“Not a lot of people know that I’ve actually been very strategic about my investments, even during the time when I was very active in the entertainment industry. For me, joining Ticket2Me is one way I can give back to Filipino fans – by connecting them directly with the artists and celebrities they love but also to help my fellow artists, performers and producers – so that they have a more efficient and a more powerful way of ticketing and monetizing their events,” Gil said.
Ticket2Me chief executive Julie Bautista said Gil’s addition to Ticket2Me’s management team cements their position as the leading independent event ticketing company in the country.
“We have been continuously investing to improve Ticket2Me’s technology, and we want more fans to experience better, more convenient event ticketing that won’t require them to have to physically line up to redeem tickets from physical outlets or force them to choose from among very limited payment options,” she added.
Bautista said the enterprise is optimistic about the company’s growth outlook with the re-opening of the Philippine economy.
In 2018, Ticket2Me exceeded the P5 million sales mark just six months after the platform went live and has now surpassed the P100 million barrier, achieving P145 million topline sales as of July 2023.
To date, Ticket2Me has issued over 680,000 tickets to more than 150,000 users and has worked with over 450 organizers and producers.
