Event marketing platform Explara acquires ticketing portal IndianStage.in

Signure Technologies Pvt Ltd, which runs Bangalore-based event marketing platform Explara.com, has acquired Istage Entertainment Pvt Ltd which owns and operates event ticketing portal IndianStage.in, for an undisclosed amount, it said on Thursday.

The transaction involves cash as well as stock.

As a part of the deal, IndianStage's founders Baskar Ethirajan and Sajesh Nair, will join Explara's management team.

The acquisition will help Explara to get an entry into the entertainment segment of the market. This will further support its recently launched solution for personalised recommendation and broader discovery based on user interest, it said.

"IndianStage.in customers will be steadily transitioned to Explara's solutions platform. IndianStage.in site will remain operational and it might get a new avatar to stay connected to the entertainment community," said Santosh Panda, CEO of Explara.

Founded in 2008, IndianStage.in claims it has so far sold tickets for over 12,000 events in 21 cities across India and abroad, serving well over 500,000 patrons enabling them to attend live performances. It largely caters to the arts and culture or entertainment segment.

"We knew that growth would happen by going wider on verticals offered, hence a merger made sense from a business perspective. We looked at Explara and other ticketing players but Explara was a natural choice because of the cultural fit, technical brilliance, multi-vertical presence and entrepreneurial approach to running the business. We have a distinct set of customers; hence joining hands means fast forwarding growth for both of us," said Sajesh Nair, co-founder of IndianStage.in.

Both Explara and IndianStage are backed by seed-stage VC firm Blume Ventures.

Explara, a marketplace to discover events & activities and to buy tickets, offers an integrated solution for ticketing/registration, payment collection, promotion & marketing, sales management, attendee management, point-of-sale, entry validations and community membership for suppliers.

In the same space, recently the top online entertainment show and movies ticketing venture BookMyShow acquired a majority stake in Bangalore-based social media analytics co Eventifier for over $1 million.