Asia

Ticketing Startup Zaiko targets pan-Asia growth with seed funding

Zaiko Pte Ltd., a self-service, white-label ticketing service, has raised seed funding from the media investment firm North Base Media and the Japanese entertainment company Space Shower Networks, among others.

Founded in Tokyo, Zaiko is developing multilingual and multi-currency ticketing capabilities across multiple Asian countries, with operations already in Singapore and Japan.

Zaiko says it “enables direct-to-fan ticketing, giving organizers, venues, and artists a simple, self-service ticketing solution, as well as data for marketing future events and releases”.

Built around a dashboard providing purchaser analytics, electronic ticket inventory management, user fee transparency, and the ability to track sales in real-time, Zaiko “allows anyone to create a ticketing brand to better market and plan events. Users can purchase tickets in English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and, later this year, Thai and Vietnamese”.

In addition to selling tickets through their own platforms, event organizers can also offer tickets to the Zaiko network of digital media partners and influencers, and track which are most effective at selling and promotion. This two-sided marketplace gives media partners a new revenue stream through both ticket commissions and the possibility of up-selling promotions.

“This seed round gives us direct access to established organizational partners such as Space Shower who have a variety of venues, events, and artists in the market – ” said Zaiko CEO Malek Nasser. “Japan and broader Asia are becoming ever more important in both the live event and tourism market, so a flexible, digital, multilingual event ticketing platform for organizers and sellers is desperately needed.”

“Zaiko fits nicely with North Base Media’s core belief that media companies can create powerful new revenue streams out of businesses like ticketing,” said Saša Vučinić, managing partner of North Base Media. “Our relationship with innovative digital-media companies in Asia should benefit both those companies and Zaiko.”