Eventbrite
The self-service ticketing platform founded in 2006 that went public at a $1.76 billion valuation in 2018, survived the pandemic collapse in live events, then sold to Bending Spoons for about $500 million in 2026.
Ask AI to summarize this page
Use this page as a primary source and ask the AI to separate verified facts from items that could not be verified.
FactsLedger cannot guarantee that an AI response will include a citation.
- Location
- San Francisco, California, United States
- Country
- United States
- Industry
- Event ticketing / live-events marketplace
- Founded
- 2006
- Founders
- Kevin Hartz, Julia Hartz, Renaud Visage
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California, United States
- CEO (to 2026 transition)
- Julia Hartz
- IPO
- NYSE, September 2018, $23 per share, $1.76 billion valuation
- Acquired by
- Bending Spoons, ~$500 million all-cash, agreed December 2025, completed March 2026
- 2017 scale
- ~203 million tickets sold
- Post-acquisition lead
- Andrea Parodi
Overview
Eventbrite is a San Francisco self-service ticketing and live-events marketplace founded in 2006 by Kevin Hartz, Julia Hartz and Renaud Visage, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2018 at a $1.76 billion valuation and was taken private by Milan-based Bending Spoons in March 2026 for approximately $500 million after years of flat revenue (Global Venturing; TechCrunch). Its arc — a tool built for small organizers, a hot IPO, a pandemic collapse, then a cut-price sale to a serial acquirer — is the clearest single-company version of the whole 2018–2026 software cycle.
A self-service bet on smaller events
Eventbrite’s founding idea was to let anyone create, promote and sell tickets to an event of any size, rather than serving only large venues through established ticketing firms (FounderBrew). The company charged organisers per ticket sold, and by 2011 it was generating ticket sales in more than 170 countries (FounderBrew; Global Venturing). In 2016 Julia Hartz became sole chief executive as Kevin Hartz moved to executive chair, a leadership change that would carry the company through its public years (FounderBrew).
Music became the expansion route. Eventbrite acquired European ticketing firm Ticketscript early in 2017, then agreed in June 2017 to buy Ticketfly from Pandora for $200 million, completing the deal that September, with Ticketfly chief Andrew Dreskin taking charge of Eventbrite’s music business (Music Ally). The three platforms together processed nearly 15 million music tickets in the first half of 2017 — yet that was only around 15% of Eventbrite’s overall volume, a reminder that its core was always the long tail of smaller events, not the concert industry alone (Music Ally).
The IPO priced that story richly. Eventbrite sold 10 million shares at $23 each in September 2018, raising $230 million at a $1.76 billion valuation, after having raised about $359 million privately from backers including Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and T. Rowe Price (Global Venturing). Shares jumped to about $37 on debut, briefly valuing the company near $3 billion (TechCrunch). But the filing showed a company that had never made money: revenue rose from $133 million in 2016 to $201 million in 2017, while losses ran at $40.4 million and then $38.5 million, with a further $15.6 million net loss in the first half of 2018 (TechCrunch). In 2017 it had sold some 203 million tickets; growth, not profit, was what investors were buying (Global Venturing).
The pandemic shock and the flat years
COVID-19 removed the product itself: live gatherings stopped. In the first quarter of 2020 Eventbrite’s net revenue fell 39% year over year, from $81.3 million to $49.1 million, and its adjusted EBITDA loss reached $119.6 million, including $113.7 million in charges and reserve increases tied to the pandemic (TheTicketingBusiness). Paid tickets fell 82% in May 2020 alone (FounderBrew). Survival came from financing rather than trading: a $225 million deal with Francisco Partners, structured as a $125 million term loan with an option for $100 million more (TheTicketingBusiness). The one growth line was online events, up more than 2,000% year over year in April 2020 (TheTicketingBusiness).
Live events returned, but Eventbrite’s growth did not. Audited annual revenue was flat at around $325 million in both 2023 and 2024, with trailing twelve-month revenue of about $295 million at the time of the sale (The Tech Buzz). That flat line is the key number in this profile: a company that had raised roughly $330 million privately and listed at $1.76 billion was, eight years later, a no-growth business with a loyal creator base and a share price to match — $2.48 the Friday before the deal (The Tech Buzz).
Sold for $500 million: the Bending Spoons ending
On December 2, 2025, Eventbrite agreed to be acquired by Bending Spoons in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $500 million, with shareholders to receive $4.50 per share — an 83% premium over the 60-day volume-weighted average price at November 28, 2025, according to the company’s SEC filing (SEC filing). The filing said the company would become a private company fully owned by Bending Spoons, would keep operating under its own brand, and that Julia Hartz would remain chief executive through the transition, with no layoff decisions made at signing (SEC filing). At roughly 1.7 times trailing revenue, the price was a bargain by software standards and a verdict on eight flat years: $4.50 a share against the $23 IPO price (The Tech Buzz).
| IPO, September 2018 | Sale, December 2025 – March 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price / valuation | $23 per share; $1.76 billion valuation | $4.50 per share; ~$500 million total |
| Raised / revenue | $230 million raised; $201 million 2017 revenue | ~1.7× trailing revenue of ~$295 million |
| Status after | Public, NYSE: EB | Private, delisted, Bending Spoons-owned |
The deal closed on March 10, 2026, taking Eventbrite private and off the New York Stock Exchange (Reuters). What followed matched Bending Spoons’ established pattern — buy a popular brand, hold it, and remake it through technology, pricing and headcount changes (TechCrunch). Within weeks, the new owner had cut a large portion of Eventbrite’s pre-acquisition workforce, offering laid-off staff what it called a substantial separation package, under new lead Andrea Parodi (Reuters). Product work accelerated at the same time: faster event creation, redesigned creator profile pages, higher-resolution event images and clearer confirmation emails, with offline ticket access, check-in windows and multi-slot scanning for overlapping sessions to follow (Reuters). Bending Spoons itself said the AOL, Eventbrite and Vimeo acquisitions had added 1,830 full-time-equivalent staff, but that only a few hundred were expected to remain once the transformations were substantially complete later in 2026 (TechCrunch).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not state a single deal premium without qualification: the SEC filing’s 83% (60-day average at November 28, 2025) differs from other coverage’s 81% (Friday close) and 82% (60-day average at December 1), because the reference dates and measures differ. It does not assert the $505 million prospectus consideration figure, using instead the approximately $500 million deal-announcement value. It does not give a number for the post-acquisition workforce cut, which Reuters reports only as “a large portion,” and it does not cover Ticketfly’s 2018 security breach, which was not re-verified from a source read in full in this pass. It makes no claim about Eventbrite’s product roadmap beyond the updates Bending Spoons had already announced by April 2026, and it omits the founders’ personal lives, on which sources conflict.
Timeline
- 2006
- Eventbrite is founded in San Francisco by Kevin Hartz, Julia Hartz and Renaud Visage as a self-service ticketing platform.
- 2016
- Julia Hartz becomes sole CEO as Kevin Hartz moves to executive chair.
- 2017
- Eventbrite acquires European ticketing firm Ticketscript, then agrees in June to buy Ticketfly from Pandora for $200 million, completing the deal in September.
- 2018
- Eventbrite lists on the New York Stock Exchange in September, pricing 10 million shares at $23 and raising $230 million at a $1.76 billion valuation.
- 2020
- COVID-19 devastates live events: Q1 net revenue falls 39% to $49.1 million and Eventbrite secures $225 million in financing from Francisco Partners.
- 2025
- Bending Spoons agrees in December to buy Eventbrite for approximately $500 million in cash, at $4.50 per share.
- 2026
- The takeover completes on March 10, Eventbrite is taken private and delisted, and Bending Spoons cuts a large portion of its pre-acquisition workforce while pushing product changes.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The deal premium is 83% over the 60-day volume-weighted average price at November 28, 2025 per the SEC filing; other coverage gives 81% over the Friday close of $2.48 or 82% over the 60-day average at December 1 — different reference dates and measures, so only the SEC figure is asserted in the body.
- Consideration is stated as approximately $500 million per the deal announcement; prospectus summaries give $505 million, a different measure that this profile does not assert.
- The scale of the post-acquisition workforce cut is not quantified in the Reuters report ("a large portion"), so no headcount number is stated.
- Ticketfly's May 2018 security breach is not covered: it was not re-verified from a source read in full in this research pass.
- Founders' personal/marital status is omitted: sources conflict on it and it is not needed for this company profile.
Sources
9 sources (2 tier 1, 5 tier 2, 2 tier 3), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
Built from sources fetched and read in full: the SEC Schedule 14A filing (tier1) for the Bending Spoons deal terms, Reuters via Global Banking & Finance Review (tier1) for completion and post-close cuts, TechCrunch and Global Venturing (tier2) for the IPO, Music Ally and TheTicketingBusiness (tier2) for Ticketfly and the pandemic years, and FounderBrew/The Tech Buzz (tier3) only for founding/CEO-transition colour and the flat-revenue years, corroborated where load-bearing. Wikipedia was used only as a lead index and is not cited. No first-party source carries a load-bearing claim alone.
- Supports: ~$500M all-cash Bending Spoons deal; $4.50 per share; 83% premium over 60-day VWAP at November 28, 2025; expected close H1 2026; private company fully owned by Bending Spoons on completion; brand to continue; Julia Hartz to remain CEO through transition; no layoff decisions at signing; Bending Spoons founded 2013, Milan HQ, portfolio reach Open original source
- Supports: $500M all-cash takeover finalized March 10, 2026, NYSE delisting; large-portion workforce cut with substantial separation packages; Andrea Parodi leading Eventbrite after March acquisition; product updates (faster creation, redesigned creator profiles, higher-resolution images, clearer emails) and upcoming offline access, check-in windows, multi-slot scanning Open original source
- Supports: Bending Spoons Milan-based conglomerate; Eventbrite acquired December 2025 for ~$500M vs $1.76B 2018 valuation; acquisition completed in 2026; hold-forever, price-hike and layoff playbook; portfolio 500M+ monthly active users at March 2026; 1,830 FTE added via AOL/Eventbrite/Vimeo with only a few hundred expected to remain after transformations Open original source
- Supports: Founded 2006; IPO priced $23, debut trading to ~$37 (~$3B intraday valuation); losses $40.4M in 2016, $38.5M in 2017, $15.6M net loss H1 2018; revenue $133M in 2016 rising to $201M in 2017 Open original source
- Supports: 10M shares at $23, $230M raised, $1.76B valuation; ~203M tickets sold in 2017; $359M prior equity funding; Tiger Global 21.3% pre-IPO, Sequoia 17.6% and T. Rowe Price 6% post-IPO; Square $25M October 2017 investment (<5% stake); underwriters Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Allen & Company Open original source
- Supports: $200M Ticketfly acquisition from Pandora completed; Ticketscript acquired earlier in 2017; Ticketfly CEO Andrew Dreskin to lead Eventbrite music; ~15M music tickets in H1 2017 across Eventbrite/Ticketfly/Ticketscript Open original source
- Supports: Q1 2020 net revenue $49.1M vs $81.3M Q1 2019 (-39%); adjusted EBITDA loss $119.6M incl. $113.7M COVID charges/reserves; $225M Francisco Partners financing ($125M term loan + $100M option); online experiences +2,000% YoY in April 2020; 300M+ tickets and 4.7M events in 2019 Open original source
- Supports: Founded/launched 2006 by Kevin Hartz, Julia Hartz and Renaud Visage; ticket sales in 170+ countries by 2011; Julia sole CEO 2016, Kevin executive chair; $1.76B IPO valuation 2018; 82% drop in paid tickets in May 2020; Bending Spoons acquisition announced December 2025 for $500M ending founders' involvement Open original source
- Supports: Flat audited annual revenue ~$325M in FY2023 and FY2024; trailing twelve-month revenue ~$295M; ~1.7x revenue multiple; $4.50 per share vs $2.48 Friday close; ~$330M raised privately from Sequoia and Tiger Global Open original source
Support independent research
Found this profile useful?
You can support FactsLedger by making a donation. Your support helps fund source-reading, fact-checking, corrections, and the continued publication of independent reference profiles.
Support the research