Explara
Singapore, SG · Founded 2008 · 17 employees on LinkedIn · 7 known investors
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Explara provides a DIY platform for event ticketing, registration, and event management software, along with online payment solutions and membership tools, serving creative entrepreneurs and SMB businesses globally.
Also known as Ayojak · Explara.com · Signature Technologies Pvt Ltd
Founders & leadership
Explara was founded in 2008 by Santosh Panda and Ashok Kumar.
Investors · 7
Also in the syndicate · 4
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Explara operates an all-in-one, self-service software platform that lets organisers create branded event pages, sell tickets and registrations, collect payments in multiple currencies through integrated gateways, and manage attendees. Product lines listed by the company are event ticketing and registration, online selling and payment solutions, membership software, and event management cloud software. Pre-event features include ticketing setup, automated email sequences, add-ons such as merchandise and accommodation, and custom forms; on-site features include QR-based or manual check-in, badge scanning and walk-in registration; post-event features include converting attendees into member groups, WhatsApp-based community engagement, automated feedback surveys, contact export and reporting.
The membership product supports membership websites and plans, member registration forms and workflows for joining, expiry and renewal, bulk email campaigns with integrations to AWS SES, Mandrill and SendGrid, affiliate tools, membership widgets and analytics. Payment collection covers online and offline (cheque, DD) processing, cards and internet banking, multi-currency collection, PayPal and Stripe integration, and an India-focused built-in gateway branded ExplaraX.
The company describes itself as among the first to provide a DIY platform for event ticketing and event management, serving creative entrepreneurs and small and medium businesses. Earlier, under the name Ayojak and run by Pune-based Signature Technologies Pvt Ltd, it operated as an event ticketing and discovery site focused on ticketing/registration, payment processing (online, retail and cash on delivery), event marketing and logistics.
Founding story
The founders began the company in 2008 while moonlighting from London, intending to build a software product company. After several failed experiments they identified that creative entrepreneurs and businesses struggled to reach audiences and monetise events, and built a DIY event ticketing and management platform, launching ticketing/registration software in 2009.
Business model
Explara sells subscription software to event organisers, communities and businesses alongside transaction-based fees. Published plans are a free Starter tier, Growth at $9 per month and Pro at $25 per month, differentiated by numbers of groups, members, monthly events, registrations, custom forms, affiliates and team members. Enterprise products with customisation carry setup fees; standard DIY products do not.
Revenue comes from monthly subscription plans (Starter free, Growth $9/month, Pro $25/month) plus per-transaction fees: 4% on ticket value for domestic transactions using Explara's integrated ExplaraX gateway in India, and 1% per transaction when using the Stripe gateway. The company states it charges no additional separate payment-processing fee, and offers pay-as-you-go billing for Starter users.
Traction
The website cites more than 100,000 users hosting events and states that it has processed millions in gross payments volume for creative entrepreneurs and small businesses. Company milestones list 2,500 customers in 2014, 50,000+ users in 2015 and 2 million+ users in 2016. In January 2014 the company said it handled 7,500 events a year and reported expected revenue of Rs 8.5 crore for the year ending 31 March 2014, up from Rs 2.45 crore the prior year.
Latest developments
An April 2025 article notes co-founder Santosh Panda has served as a coach at Explara since May 2020 while running Foundership, a global accelerator and VC focused on AI, Web3 and emerging technology. Current website materials describe WhatsApp-based event community engagement and tiered Starter, Growth and Pro pricing.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Explara positions itself in the ticketing market against large incumbents such as Ticketmaster and Eventbrite by serving small and medium venues and events; an adviser to its 2014 fundraise characterised the ticketing industry as growing at roughly 8% CAGR and said Explara catered to medium and small venues with high per-ticket cost that were underserved by larger platforms.
The company emphasises being among the earliest DIY event ticketing and management platforms, an integrated suite spanning pre-event, on-ground and post-event workflows, multi-currency and multi-gateway support with the option to plug in an organiser's own payment gateway, no setup fees on standard products, and community continuity through membership and WhatsApp group tools.
Technology
A cloud-hosted event solutions platform offering branded event pages, multi-gateway and multi-currency payment processing, QR-based check-in and badge scanning, form builders, affiliate tools, email campaign infrastructure with AWS SES, Mandrill and SendGrid integrations, WhatsApp-based community coordination, analytics and reporting, and a group mobile app on higher tiers.
Go-to-market
Self-service onboarding with a free plan requiring no credit card, upsell to paid tiers and credit purchases as usage grows, plus a direct/enterprise motion for large customers requiring customisation and custom payment gateway integration. Customer testimonials and comparisons against competing platforms feature on the website.
Creative entrepreneurs, small and medium businesses, community and meetup organisers, membership groups and clubs, plus enterprise customers running large-scale global events and membership programmes. Early customer references include investor networks, music societies, publishing events, LinkedIn Local chapters and financial-education publishers.
Geography
Originating with operations moonlighted from London and later run from Pune, with Indian offices in Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi as of 2014, and organisers served in India, the US, the UK, South Africa, Singapore and the Philippines. Business operations expanded to Singapore in 2018. The India-specific ExplaraX gateway sits alongside global Stripe and PayPal options.
History
The company started operations in 2008 and launched event ticketing/registration software in 2009 and 2010, adding offline at-the-venue registration and payment processing in 2011 and recording 600% growth in 2012. It was angel funded in 2013 by backers including Rajan Anandan, Harvard Business School Alumni Angels and Blume Ventures. Formerly known as Ayojak and operated by Pune-based Signature Technologies Pvt Ltd, it rebranded for global outreach and expanded internationally in 2014, reaching 50,000+ users in 2015 and signing large enterprise customers in 2016. In 2017 it launched all-in-one event management and membership software, expanded operations to Singapore in 2018, and launched business and commerce software in 2019.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 7
launches, deals, and filingsCo-founder and CEO Santosh Panda said the company was close to raising its first VC round of $2-3 million, mandated to boutique investment bank EthiQs Advisory, to be deployed over 18-24 months on technology and expansion into Southeast Asia and South Africa.
$3M source ↗
Explara (formerly Ayojak) rebranded for global outreach and expanded globally, reaching 2,500 customers.
Press release announcing the ticketing and registration provider's expansion into an end-to-end event solution platform.
The startup received an undisclosed amount from Harvard Business School Alumni Angels, Srijan Capital and Blume Ventures, with Google India MD Rajan Anandan and angel investor Kishore Warrier participating personally. HBS Alumni Angels co-founder Ravi Gururaj joined the board and Anandan became an advisor.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Explaraexplara.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Explara do?
- Explara is a DIY platform for event ticketing, registration, membership and online payments, operating since 2008.
- Who founded Explara?
- Explara was founded by Santosh Panda, Ashok Kumar in 2008.
- Who are Explara's investors?
- Explara's investors include Blume Ventures, Callapina Capital, Hyderabad Angels.
- Where is Explara headquartered?
- Explara is headquartered in Singapore, SG.