Undeterred by the harsh economic conditions facing many businesses in southern Europe, Spanish ticketing startup Ticketbis has grown to over € 50 million in revenues over a few short years.
Founded by entrepreneurs Jon Uriarte and Ander Michelena in 2009, shortly after the worldwide financial collapse that left Spain suffering its worst recession in decades, the secondary ticket market has seen substantial growth each year.
Born in Spain, Uriarte and Michelena came from a history of working in finance in London, where they worked at Morgan Stanley, but after years of working in the city they both decided that they wanted to move back to Bilbao and launch something new.
The pair evaluated a number of different opportunities, but after seeing how successful US companies had been in creating aftermarket ticketing services, they decided that now was the time to adapt a similar service for the European digital ticket market, and Ticketbis was born.
Some worry that recessions make it harder to launch startups as consumers and companies tighten their belts, but in reality the reverse is often true. Startups are inherently lean agile businesses that can quickly adapt their business model or focus on new markets.
Ticketbis initially focused on continental European markets, rather than taking on the established leaders in developed markets such as the US and UK, and with a 25% commission on each sale, the business was soon seeing substantial revenues.
Ticketbis were also able to take advantage of the change in consumer behaviour during recessions, where people are more likely to search for bargains and reduced priced tickets to events, or try and find a buyer for tickets to events they can no longer attend.
The company’s strong early promise saw it pick up investment of €900,000 in two seed rounds in 2009, followed by a further €1 million in 2011 to help fund further growth.
The company later established itself in the UK, and while it derives 50% of its revenues from its European operations, 40% now comes from Latin America and 10% from Asia, where the company launched last year.
According to Wikipedia, Ticketbis has launched in 31 countries and its global presence has meant that Ticketbis has access to new statistics that provide insights into how the ticket business is changing in the increasingly globalised world. Ticketbis’ cross-border ticket sales have more than doubled since 2012, demonstrating the how people are prepared to travel further for live experiences and the emergence of the ‘international fan’.
In noticing this trend, Ticketbis are now in a position to capitalise on this market by advertising tickets to similar events in other countries when a user is searching for tickets to an event they are interested in. For example, a UK-based music fan may find that they could see their favourite band in Paris or Barcelona for considerably less than the price of their show in London, and decide to make a weekend out of the experience.
As Spain’s recovery gathers speed, Ticketbis has positioned itself as an outward looking company, well prepared to adapt to any future economic challenges in any one of its many markets around the world.
