The founders of a London entertainment listings guide have started an online events planning and marketing service, having raised £500,000 from private investors.
Co-founders Alexander Will and Henry Erskine Crum started the Spoonfed guide in November 2008 after leaving London School of Economics, and are now adding Bullseyehub, a software-as-a-service platform which lets event organisers manage email and SMS marketing messages, broadcast to listings sites, customer records and social media engagement, with integrated analytics.
Ministry of Sound and the Cargo club are 40 early customers, and the service seems designed for music gig and festival organisers, though also appears versatile enough for other types. It costs £99.99 a month.
Will says Spoonfed raised £500,000 in 2009/10 from investors including former Bebo exec Angel Gambino, LinkedIn’s European MD Kevin Eyres (who is Spoonfed’s chairman) and Arma Partners partner Eric Lawson Smith. It earlier raised £400,000 from investors including Global Beach Media CEO Clive Jackson and Close Brothers MD Stephen Hodges.
Says Will: “Almost 80 percent of revenue in the entertainment industry now comes from live events. Bullseyehub allows clients to communicate with their customers across multiple online channels, gain invaluable insight and increase their return on investment from their digital marketing activity.”