Lyte Acquires Festicket And Event Genius Assets

Lyte has announced the acquisition of the assets of U.K.-based companies Festicket and Event Genius, a move that represents a broad expansion of the platform’s services and team worldwide.

Festicket and Event Genius work with hundreds of festivals and events across the UK, EU, Australia and Latin America, allowing fans to book tickets, travel accommodations and make in-venue payments for food, beverages and merchandise.

This week’s announcement from Lyte proclaims that the acquisition will bring the ticket reservations technology platform’s experience to “fans attending live events across the globe while building upon its successful partnership integration model with ticketing platforms in the United States.” The news from Lyte’s team notes that the company is focused on “the protection of both the Festicket employees and the clients that they have served” and is “committed to finding ways to reconcile and rebuild with affected Promoter clients.”

Many former clients of Festickets have already signed with Lyte including Slammin Events in the UK and Vic Falls Carnival in Zimbabwe, with more signings in Europe and Australia expected to be confirmed soon.

Lyte’s mission is to fill every seat with real tickets at fair prices by letting fans reserve, return and exchange tickets through its proprietary risk-free reservations system. This year saw Lyte working with many of the top North American festivals including Life Is Beautiful, Pitchfork Music Festival, BottleRock, Baja Beach Fest and others.

“Lyte’s success to date has been achieved by building a coalition of employees, ticketing companies, and event organizers who share the aspiration to make all aspects of going to a show as great as seeing the talent that graces the stage,” Lawrence Peryer, Lyte’s Chief Commercial Officer, said in a statement. “With the assets we have acquired in this transaction – and all of the new team members in the UK, Europe and Australia who we welcome as part of it – we are bringing global opportunities to our existing employees and partners while extending an offer of access to our alternate universe to all promoters, ticket platforms and fans worldwide. The future of live events is here.”

Ant Taylor, Lyte’s CEO and Founder, added, “Ten years ago I visited London for the 2012 Olympic games. The events were sold out, there were no tickets on the streets but the venues were half-full. I was just a fan but that empty seats problem stuck with me and led me to start Lyte a couple years later. To be launching Lyte’s international expansion from the place where it all started, is truly special. Our company vision is to make the live events e-commerce experience magical for fans and event creators, the world over…This is a step in that direction. Now the real work begins.”