Events app start-up ‘to rival Airbnb’
ACARDIFF-BASED start-up is looking to become the equivalent of Just Eat and Airbnb in the events and experiences market.
Set up by Fed Pereira and Georgia and Alice Aubrey, Lovetovisit.com, which has already raised £1.5m with plans to raise a further £2m, plans to launch its digital platform next spring.
The UK’s marketplace for events and experiences, from major attractions to smaller operators, is worth £3.6bn annually and growing at a rate of 15% per annum.
Lovetovisit’s app, with a geocentric newsfeed, will allow people to book tickets for leisure and experience venues.
Its revenue model will see it taking a fee from each ticket sold.
It has already signed up 1,200 attractions and venues to its platform, with each having various events. It is forecasting to have three to five million visitors a month.
The start-up currently employs more than 24 at Brunel House in the centre of Cardiff, where it is recruiting for a further five. It is forecasting having 60 staff by next summer and growing further to 120 by 2023. The business also has international expansion plans on its radar, with the US identified as a key market.
Its £1.5m fundraising to date includes backing from eight investors, including chief executive of the Development Bank of Wales Giles Thorley acting in a private capacity. The company opted not to pursue any funding from the development bank, which is wholly owned by the Welsh Government.
Chief executive Mr Pereira said: “Lovetovisit.com is so much more than an aggregator site. Our commitment to user experience drives every decision on the platform to make sure audiences will love it. It’s inspiring, fun and easy to use – people will want to spend time on there.
“Finding things to do online is fragmented, time-consuming and frustrating. We’ve solved that issue by pulling everything together in one place – think Airbnb, Instagram and Just Eat combined into one platform for the leisure sector, to help people make the most of their free time.”
Georgia Aubrey, partnerships director and co-founder, added: “We have tens of thousands of events already plugged into the platform.
“We’re counting down to our consumer launch next month, and encourage both paid and free organisations across the arts, tourism and culture sectors to join us, promoting themselves to huge new audiences.”
Content director and co-founder Alice Aubrey said: “Content is another way in which we are differentiating ourselves and making the platform fun and informative for our users, with our own team of journalists writing original, inclusive content.”
On the investment made by Mr Thorley into the company, the Development Bank of Wales said: “Giles Thorley has been an active angel and SME investor for over 15 years.
“The company has not applied for funding from the Development Bank of Wales.”