Townscript offers a do-it-yourself ticketing platform for events
When it comes to event booking for startups and SMEs there are few players in the market. Townscript, started by Sachin Sharma and Sanchit Malik, is a do-it-yourself platform for event organizers.
Sachin is a graduate from IIT Kanpur and has around eight years of experience in product development. Before starting Townscript, he co-founded a mobile apps startup XStudio Technologies, which built apps in the utility and content domain. Prior to his own startup, Sachin worked at Synygy India as a software developer for four years. Sanchit graduated in 2013 from the Maharashtra Institute of Technology, Pune. Sanchit cofounded Padhaaro - a travel-based startup at the age of 19. He looks after business development at Townscript.
The team initially set out to build a networking app for events but when they spoke to people they realized they would need to change the idea. Sachin says,
"We were initially building a networking mobile app for events in India. But during interactions with event organisers, we soon realized that online ticketing is a bigger pain point and there is a lack of good do-it-yourself event ticketing platforms. So we started building that platform and launched Townscript in its current form."
The company released their Android app earlier this month and claims to be the first to do it for the do-it-yourself event platforms. One of the biggest challenges they faced while building Townscript was payments. Sachin says,
"People are emotional about their money and security is a big issue when you are handling transactions. The initial days after launch were tough when attendees used to face issues while transacting, and organisers used to get angry when their expectations were not met. We maintained our cool and kept improving the user experience. Also, we complimented our product with stellar customer service. Gradually, we have reached a stage where our users are happy and satisfied."
At present, they charge a fixed transaction fee for every ticket bought from their platform. The company has raised an undisclosed amount in an angel round from multiple investors including Mohit Garg (Co-founder, MindTickle), Mahesh Parasuraman (Managing Director, Carlyle Group), Nipam Shah (Founder, NRS Advisors), Dheeraj Vasisht (Director, Ameretat Technologies), Sandeep Bhandarkar (CEO, Ameretat Technologies), Hemal Patel ( CEO, Cyberoam Technologies), Lalit Singh (Executive Director, Enterprise Services HP), Kalyan G (AVP Technology Business, Mahindra Tech) and few others.
Townscript claims to have served over 1000 event organisers, including Rubyconf India, Mood Indigo, Startup Leadership Program, Pune International Marathon. The company was launched in January 2014 and claims to grow over 30 per cent MoM.
Looking at the future, the company aims to grow by 400 per cent this year when it comes to ticket sales and also reach out to more event organisers. At present other major players in this field include MeraEvents and Explara but looking at the event there is a huge scope for growth and more players waiting to enter the market. BookMyShow holds the major chunk of the market while the others are still catching up.