South African startup Quicket, a pan-African self-service ticketing platform founded in 2011, has been acquired by Ticketmaster, the world’s leading ticket marketplace, in a move aimed at further supporting the rapidly growing live events market across the continent.
Launched in 2011 by James Tagg, James Hedley and Michael Kennedy, Quicket allows anyone organising events of all shapes and sizes to deliver a world class ticketing experience to their audience, wherever they may be on the continent.
An alumni of the Grindstone accelerator programme, and backed by KNF Ventures, Quicket has expanded operations in Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, and Botswana.
Ticketmaster, meanwhile, is the world’s largest ticket marketplace and the global market leader in live event ticketing products and services. It processes 550 million tickets per year across more than 35 different countries, and launched in South Africa in 2022.
The acquisition of Quicket will allow Ticketmaster to more swiftly expand in Africa, offering solutions for events of all sizes, from small clubs to large festivals and stadiums. It will allow more African venues, artists, and promoters to benefit from Quicket’s regional expertise and Ticketmaster’s global reach and service, and enable the expansion of digital technologies, like secure encrypted mobile tickets, across the continent.
“The passion for live entertainment is at the heart of African culture. Over the past 13 years, we’ve empowered event creators across the continent to deliver exceptional experiences through our ticketing platform. Partnering with Ticketmaster marks a landmark moment in connecting African artists to a global audience and enhancing the experience for local fans and promoters alike,” said Quicket managing director James Tagg, who will continue to lead Quicket as a standalone business unit from Cape Town.
Mark Yovich, president of Ticketmaster, said Africa was home to some of the most passionate fans in the world, who his company had the “privilege of connecting to the events they love, simply and securely”.
“Our commitment to delivering top-tier tools for promoters, venues, and artists is unwavering. Partnering with Quicket will supercharge our mission to elevate Africa’s dynamic live events to the global spotlight they truly deserve. Together, we are igniting a new era of unparalleled growth for African entertainment,” he said.
Keet van Zyl, co-founder of Knife Capital and KNF Ventures, said this was a “special exit” for many reasons.
“The founders built a resilient, capital efficient, high-growth African business, and it is awesome of Ticketmaster to recognise that. A great win for the startup funding ecosystem on the continent and another positive data point in building a credible venture capital asset class rooted in returns to investors,” he said.
