Verified employee & interview reviews

Eventbrite Reviews

San Francisco, California

4.3/ 5

3 reviews

Eventbrite is a prominent global self-service ticketing platform and live events marketplace designed to enable anyone to create, share, find, and attend events. Founded on January 1, 2006, in San Francisco, California, by Kevin Hartz, Julia Hartz, and Renaud Visage, the company was established to address a distinct market gap: the lack of an efficient, scalable way for small and mid-sized organizers to manage events and sell tickets online, a segment largely underserved by legacy providers like Ticketmaster. The platform utilizes a freemium business model, allowing event creators to publish and promote unlimited events of any size at no cost if the event is free. For paid events, Eventbrite charges a percentage fee plus a flat per-ticket fee, a strategy that fueled viral adoption across a diverse range of live experiences, from community meetings and workshops to major music festivals. Over the years, Eventbrite expanded its capabilities from basic registration into a comprehensive event management ecosystem, incorporating advanced analytics, mobile entry applications for organizers, and specialized marketing suites like Eventbrite Ads. The company's growth was accelerated by significant venture capital backing, raising approximately $349 million over multiple funding rounds from prominent investors including Tiger Global Management, Sequoia Capital, T. Rowe Price, and Square. Key milestones in its corporate history include reaching $1 billion in cumulative gross ticket sales by 2013 and initiating a rapid international expansion that established local offices in regions such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Australia, and Brazil. Eventbrite completed several strategic acquisitions to bolster its market position, including Ticketfly, Picatic, and the social media marketing service ToneDen. Eventbrite went public on the New York Stock Exchange on September 20, 2018, trading under the ticker symbol "EB." During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which severely impacted the live entertainment industry, the company aggressively pivoted toward virtual event infrastructure and integrated digital solutions like Zoom to sustain operations. By 2024, the platform had recovered to distribute over 300 million tickets annually, supporting millions of events across nearly 180 countries. In a major corporate transition, Eventbrite entered into a definitive agreement on December 2, 2025, to be acquired by the Italian technology company Bending Spoons in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $500 million. Following the completion of this acquisition in early 2026, Eventbrite was taken private, ending its tenure as a publicly traded entity. Today, the company continues to operate as a private subsidiary under Bending Spoons, focusing on AI-driven personalization, creator monetization, and advanced marketing tools to support independent event organizers worldwide.