Industry News

Aventus secures $20m from investors in ICO

Blockchain ticketing solution provider Aventus has raised an estimated $20m in an Initial Coin Offering (ICO), which sold out within seven minutes.

Its AventCoin (AVT) token sale received more than 60,000 Etherum (ETH) from investors, which is the equivalent of around $20m (£15.1m/€16.7m).

Aventus, which has been dubbed “the Bitcoin of ticketing,” aims to prevent unregulated touting and counterfeit tickets.

The London-based firm enables secure transfer and resale of tickets with built-in inflation caps that aims to eliminate fraud and ensure that the final user can be identified. The company said this type of technology is of particular importance in light of global terror concerns as it brings an additional security measure for attendees.

It boldly claims that its technology “effectively ends the ability for ticket touters to continue in business”.

Co-founder Alan Vey said: “One of the biggest problems plaguing the events industry is touting. Almost everyone has had the experience where they go online to buy tickets for their favourite artist, only to find that they’ve sold out in minutes.”

“At Adele’s recent tour, tickets for the Wembley Stadium locations were sold out almost immediately, leaving the majority of her fans disappointed. The tickets – which had a maximum face value of £175 – then began appearing on secondary sale sites for thousands of pounds.

“This is frustrating to fans and leads to very poor brand publicity for the event organiser.”

Vey continued: “We ultimately aim to power all ticket sales online. At the moment we’re focused on event tickets, but we’re looking at the possibility of expanding to transport and sport in the future.”