E-ticketing startup Kyazoonga has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons. The funds will be used by the startup for market expansion, to enter geographies like United States, West Asia, Pakistan and the Caribbean Islands. Ratan Tata has invested in over 25 startups so far, with the most recent being Artificial Intelligence startup Niki.ai.
Started in 2007, Kyazoonga has ticketed major international events including the ICC Cricket World Cup in three countries, the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the SAFF Cup and bilateral international cricket matches, and domestic tournaments like the Indian Premier League, the Pro Kabaddi League and the Nehru Cup. The company looks to partners with sports franchises, music concerts, promoters and event organisers. The firm sold more than 25 million tickets last year.
"As we scale Kyazoonga into a global enterprise, glad to know he shares in the excitement of our mission of 'Tickets made simple for everyone, everywhere'," Kyazoonga CEO and co-founder Neetu Bhatia said.
Apart from India, Kyazoonga has ticketing operations in the UAE, the US and the Caribbean. Neetu believes that the US market for ticketing is even bigger, worth close to $25 billion for ticketing.
Kyazoonga competes with players like BookMyShow and MeraEvents in India. BookMyShow is currently reported to be in advanced talks with investors to raise around $75 million (around Rs 500 crore) in its largest round of fund-raising yet.
About Founders
Neetu Bhatia, Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO
Neetu Bhatia is Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of KyaZoonga. An investment banker turned entrepreneur, Neetu is credited with creating the professional entertainment and sports ticketing market in India. Prior to co-founding Kyazoonga, she was a senior media & telecom investment banker on Wall Street. Most recently, she led Bank of Montreal’s U.S. Internet Media practice as a Director in its Media, Communications & Technology Investment Banking Group. She has over nine years of experience originating and executing several strategic advisory and financing transactions in these sectors. Neetu’s transactions include over $40 billion of executed deals for Time Warner, Google, Comcast, Cablevision, Verizon, Cingular, AT&T and others.
Akash Bhatia, Co-Founder
Akash Bhatia is a Co-Founder of KyaZoonga. A software engineer turned entrepreneur, Akash conceived the original idea of KyaZoonga during one of his visits back home to India. Prior to co-founding KyaZoonga, he was a senior software engineer in Silicon Valley. Most recently, Akash led the development of one of Oracle’s next generation Fusion Enterprise Applications, and also invented a patent-pending interface for Oracle Applications.He has over seven years of experience in all aspects of software development with Oracle and PeopleSoft.
Arpita Majumder, Co-Founder
Arpita Majumder is a Co-founder of KyaZoonga. Prior to co-founding KyaZoonga, she was a senior management consultant with A.T. Kearney and AlixPartners where her work contributed to significant improvements to the bottom lines of several Fortune 10 to Fortune 500 companies across various different industries including Consumer Goods, Automotive, Pharmaceuticals, Telecom, and Industrial Conglomerates across various geographies including North America, Europe and South America. She began her career designing complex fully automated CNC machine tools at Tata Motors in Pune India, immediately after graduating in Electrical Engineering from Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli.
Image Source: ShutterStock
Started in 2007, Kyazoonga has ticketed major international events including the ICC Cricket World Cup in three countries, the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the SAFF Cup and bilateral international cricket matches, and domestic tournaments like the Indian Premier League, the Pro Kabaddi League and the Nehru Cup. The company looks to partners with sports franchises, music concerts, promoters and event organisers. The firm sold more than 25 million tickets last year.
"As we scale Kyazoonga into a global enterprise, glad to know he shares in the excitement of our mission of 'Tickets made simple for everyone, everywhere'," Kyazoonga CEO and co-founder Neetu Bhatia said.
Apart from India, Kyazoonga has ticketing operations in the UAE, the US and the Caribbean. Neetu believes that the US market for ticketing is even bigger, worth close to $25 billion for ticketing.
Kyazoonga competes with players like BookMyShow and MeraEvents in India. BookMyShow is currently reported to be in advanced talks with investors to raise around $75 million (around Rs 500 crore) in its largest round of fund-raising yet.
About Founders
Neetu Bhatia, Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO
Neetu Bhatia is Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of KyaZoonga. An investment banker turned entrepreneur, Neetu is credited with creating the professional entertainment and sports ticketing market in India. Prior to co-founding Kyazoonga, she was a senior media & telecom investment banker on Wall Street. Most recently, she led Bank of Montreal’s U.S. Internet Media practice as a Director in its Media, Communications & Technology Investment Banking Group. She has over nine years of experience originating and executing several strategic advisory and financing transactions in these sectors. Neetu’s transactions include over $40 billion of executed deals for Time Warner, Google, Comcast, Cablevision, Verizon, Cingular, AT&T and others.
Akash Bhatia, Co-Founder
Akash Bhatia is a Co-Founder of KyaZoonga. A software engineer turned entrepreneur, Akash conceived the original idea of KyaZoonga during one of his visits back home to India. Prior to co-founding KyaZoonga, he was a senior software engineer in Silicon Valley. Most recently, Akash led the development of one of Oracle’s next generation Fusion Enterprise Applications, and also invented a patent-pending interface for Oracle Applications.He has over seven years of experience in all aspects of software development with Oracle and PeopleSoft.
Arpita Majumder, Co-Founder
Arpita Majumder is a Co-founder of KyaZoonga. Prior to co-founding KyaZoonga, she was a senior management consultant with A.T. Kearney and AlixPartners where her work contributed to significant improvements to the bottom lines of several Fortune 10 to Fortune 500 companies across various different industries including Consumer Goods, Automotive, Pharmaceuticals, Telecom, and Industrial Conglomerates across various geographies including North America, Europe and South America. She began her career designing complex fully automated CNC machine tools at Tata Motors in Pune India, immediately after graduating in Electrical Engineering from Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli.
Image Source: ShutterStock
Advertisements