Continuing his investment spree in Indian startups, Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, has now invested in an online ticketing platform Kyazoonga in his personal capacity.
With the new funding coming to the company, it is now planning to use the funds to expand its operations to the international markets including United States, West Asia, Pakistan and the Caribbean Islands. The company is also looking to triple its team of 50 in the next one year.
Ratan Tata has invested in more than 25 startups in India, more recent of them being AI-powered chatbot provider Niki.ai; emergency response app MUrgency; and LensKart.
Commenting about this funding, Neetu Bhatia, founder of KyaZaoonga said that,
We have our own IP and ticketing technology platform that enabled us to scale up domestically. We largely focus on sporting and entertainment events, not really movies. That’s how we differentiate ourselves from the existing players in the market.
The company used to focus on the ticketing market in India and domestic sporting leagues such as Indian Premier League and the Pro Kabaddi League. However, the company is also focusing on international events like the ICC Cricket World Cup and the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. It is also said that the company is likely to become a ticketing partner for the Rio 2016 Olympics as well.
In September last year, it started ticketing for events in the US from its new office in Los Altos in Silicon Valley. Along with signing on two editions for the Carribean Premier League in West Indies for Rs 100 crore deal, it also started ticketing for a few events in California and Washington DC.
The platform focuses on developing partnerships with sports franchises, music concert promoters and event organizers. The company was founded in 2007. The platform claims to have sold more than 25 million tickets in 2015.
In this space, Kyazoonga is in direct competition with the likes of Mera Events and BookMyShow, among others. This news comes into light when the competitor BookMyShow is also speculated to being close to receiving their biggest funding ever of $75 million. Stripes Global, a NewYork based VC firm is expected to invest over $50 million into the ticketing platform.
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