Let`s face it, we all get tired from watching the same bands perform year after year at the private events and celebrations held in our area. So why not change it a little bit and make it more interesting? Ukrainian GigMngr came up with an idea and created an online marketplace for booking artists for private events and parties with a new approach to the entertainment industry. A plethora of bands, different genres and direct communication is just some of the USP’s of this startup (read more about GigMngr here). Not only have they been present in their homeland, Ukraine, but also in Russia and most recently in Poland as well.
inventures.eu caught up with GigMngr founder and CEO, Evgeniy Shestopal, to talk about their expansion to the Polish market and future plans. “We saw a less competitive and promising market and an opportunity to enter a truly European market and move closer to CEE.” Having little language barriers and similar market trends was also an important factor to consider when expanding their business toPoland. “But we are not planning to stop here”, said Shestopal, “our long term goal is to expand our business to Germany and the Czech Republic”.
The team behind GigMngr consists of Evgeniy Shestopal, Andrii Bichkovskiy and Ignat Thorovskiy who only have one mission. To add that little extra to the event, to make it truly special, by presenting new bands, diversify the artists and bring fresh music.
Growing and breaking even
At the moment, the portfolio contains two products. There is Poptop.pl in Poland with 500 bands and Poptop.fm launched in Russia and Ukraine with 1700 active bands. “Our short term goal is to reach 2000 bands on our Polish platform by the end of May and 6000 bands on the Ukrainian one by the end of the year,” said Shestopal.
Compared to other players on the market, GigMngr provides direct communication between two parties: “Our business model is based on a commission from the transaction, somewhere between seven and ten percent. Between December 2013 and March 2014, we completed bookings for around $50 000 and receive around 200 booking requests every month,” added the CEO.
Considering the recent political events in Ukraine, the entertainment industry has suffered a bit and lost some of its edge but the team is optimistic and hopes the market will get better so they can reach the break-even point by October.
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