EventStir Launches Publicly for Crowdfunding Events

Kira M. Newman Dec 5, 2012 Tweet

Today, EventStir launched publicly to allow anyone to pre-sell tickets to events.

The DC startup is tackling a few annoyances: events that lose money because ticket sales are low, and events that don’t even happen because organizers are worried about losing money. Instead, EventStir works like Kickstarter: funds are only collected if an event reaches its goal, which can be a number of people or an amount of money.

Around 100 events have been created since EventStir started its beta test in March, such as a bachelorette party, a New Year’s party, and a beach house rental. EventStir even held its own election party during DCWEEK; they decided they would book a venue if 100 people signed up, and, sure enough, they hit capacity at 200.

One new feature launching today is the ability to throw free events. It can help organizers land sponsorships, since they’re able to prove that people are interested. Also, EventStir has been signing up local partners in DC like Epic Yoga. They pay a fee to list classes, which are featured on the site, and they can test out new concepts with little risk.

EventStir charges a 5 percent fee for events funded. In contrast, Crowdtilt allows you to crowdfund anything and charges 2.5 percent. “There are a phenomenal amount of crowdfunding competitors these days,” admits cofounder Andrew Mason. He thinks EventStir has a leg up because it focuses narrowly on events, and can eventually create a mobile app and features tailored specifically to events.

EventStir was the third hottest showcasing startup. at our Tech Cocktail DCWEEK mixer.