GiggedIn launches equity crowdfunding campaign ahead of national rollout

GiggedIn, the Australian-owned live music subscription service, is going national. And, perhaps, heading further afield.

From next year, the app-based platform, which currently operates in Sydney and Melbourne, will roll out its pan-Australian footprint, starting with Brisbane.

To help it get there, GiggedIn is raising capital through an equity crowdfunding campaign at Birchal.

Speaking with TIO, GiggedIn founder and CEO Ed Onggo says the crowdfunding approach makes sense for a company deep in the business of connecting music fans with upwards of 150 gigs, festivals, films and stand-up comedy shows each month.

GiggedIn launched 2016 in Sydney and entered the Melbourne market soon after. Its mantra: putting bums on seats.

“We buy tickets, money flows to the promoter and artist,” Onggo explains. “Because we get more people out of the house, we help (the industry) by helping sell out venues, and we can help our event partners dynamically price shows to encourage discovery.

“When more people are out, artists can grow their fanbase, sell more merch, play bigger shows on their next run. It preserves our culture.”

The GiggedIn team

The company offers subscription from $14.95 per month for access to its credit-based model, with membership now “in the thousands,” says Onggo.

GiggedIn took the crowd-funding route to cover the last leg of its $1 million capital raise in the first half of 2018, with the number of subscribers growing five-fold in the 18 months since, the company claims.

Its users typically range from 18-35, with an even male-female split. “One of the things that surprises us is our members like different types of music,” Onggo explains. “They might go to a hip-hop gig and then to something grungier or electronic.”

Since launch, punters have gone out with GiggedIn over 30,000 times, and the company reports revenue of $1.5 million-plus. Global expansion to other “thriving cultural hubs” will follow, according to the company.

“We’re confident we’ve cracked a model that facilitates artist discovery, and as a result we’ve spent all our time figuring out how we can create a product that gets people out of the house,” says Onggo. “We use a technology, the same sort that gets you stuck on screens, but as a force for good to get people out of the house.”

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.