Shotgun

Market position

An early-stage European ticketing and event-discovery player concentrated on electronic music and nightlife, described by its investor as a digital ticketing service for electronic music events. Its Android listing sits alongside other event and ticketing apps such as AXS Tickets, Fever and Bandsintown. Preqin classifies it as early stage in the internet sector with restaurants/nightlife and search sub-industries and e-commerce and mobile app verticals.

Shotgun combines a consumer discovery and resale marketplace with organizer-side SaaS tooling, so the same platform handles ticket distribution, on-site production including bar sales, and audience analytics. Its Radar feature is designed to give organizers an end-to-end view of an artist's attendance and ROI and, by cross-referencing user profiles, to target ticket-sales campaigns at the users most likely to attend. Consumer-side mechanics such as in-app resale and transfer, waiting lists for sold-out events, friend activity, an ambassador program and rewards tied to Shotgun scores are also part of the offering.

Technology

A mobile application for iOS and Android supporting event search by location, artist and genre, ticket purchase, in-app resale and transfer, waiting lists, personalized alerts via music-service syncing, friend activity tracking and an optional step tracker. For organizers, the Smartboard SaaS platform handles event creation, ticket distribution and on-site production including bar sales, with a Radar analytics feature for artist attendance and ROI and profile-based targeting of ticket campaigns. Companion apps include Shotgun Scan and Shotgun Backstage. App data is encrypted in transit and users can request data deletion.

Go-to-market

Shotgun acquires event organizers, venues and promoters as clients for its Smartboard platform — including established venues such as Paris's Rex Club — and reaches consumers through its iOS/Android app with personalized recommendations, music-service syncing, artist and organizer following, friend activity, promo codes, reward programs and an ambassador scheme. Customer support is delivered through an online help center and chatbot.

Event organizers, promoters and venues in music and nightlife (including clubs such as the Rex Club), artists, and consumers attending festivals, concerts, club nights and raves — with a founding focus on 18-25 year-old mobile-native clubbers.

Geography

Headquartered in Paris, France, with a registered address at 6 Cité de l'Ameublement, 75011 Paris. As of December 2018 the platform served roughly 30 cities including Paris, Nantes, Marseille, Bordeaux and Lille, plus Luxembourg, Belgium and Croatia. Coverage also extends to US markets such as New York, Miami and Los Angeles, and the app advertises access to music events worldwide; stated expansion plans targeted additional major cities in Europe and Asia.

History

Sources place the company's establishment in 2014 in Paris, with Newfund Capital dating its investment involvement to 2017 at the Series A stage. By December 2018 Shotgun reported 400 organizer clients in around 30 cities across France (Paris, Nantes, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lille) and three additional European countries (Luxembourg, Belgium, Croatia), plus 130,000 regular users of its consumer app. A EUR 2 million venture round was announced in February 2020, led by Newfund Management with Venrex Investment Management participating, and was earmarked for platform development, new features and expansion into further European and Asian cities. The Android app has since surpassed one million downloads and continues to receive updates.

Risks & controversies

Public Google Play reviews cite payment-method and auto-pay setup failures, difficulty deleting an account without the app, and an unresolved refund request after a user was refused venue entry, with the company responding publicly and directing users to its help center chatbot. The Android listing states the app contains ads and may share location and personal information with third parties.