BookMyShow-backed Townscript wants to be a mobile-first platform

Moneycontrol

Townscript, a do-it-yourself event registration and online ticketing startup backed by BookMyShow, is aiming to become a mobile-first platform by next year on the back of increased transactions on the application, especially from tier-II towns.

“Our mobile capability was limited till a year ago. The investment from BookMyShow has helped us improve that. We have seen transactions increase rapidly from both consumers and event organisers,” Sachin Sharma, co-founders of Townscript, told Moneycontrol.

The traffic on its mobile application has increased with 40% ticketing transactions while over 40% of the organisers are only using the mobile front.

“The share of organisers on mobile will definitely increase to 60% or 70% in next 12 months. On the consumer side we see that increasing to at least 50% in the same time period,” said Sanchit Malik, co-founder of Townscript.

The startup, which counts online ticketing as its core product, has been steadily expanding its portfolio of services.

BookMyShow, the Mumbai-based entertainment ticketing portal, acquired a 75% stake in the Pune-based startup in an undisclosed all cash deal in February last year. The investment, according to BookMyShow was to help Townscript scale up, while it continues to operate as a separate business.

Townscript works on a DIY model and helps organisers set up dedicated registration and ticketing pages within minutes using its website or mobile app. It lets clients customize event details, send promotional mailers, manage payment collection and refunds, and generate data-driven analysis of the event.

Townscript hosted about 15,000 events last year across India, including smaller cities like Ludhiana and Jaipur. The company focuses on the registration and ticketing needs of small and medium scale events such as office conferences, workshops, exhibitions, tech events and so on.

“Our growth in events has been 200%, ticketing has grown by 110%. The investment was a big push towards growth. We have been able to add new capabilities like data science, pushing relevant events through predictive analysis, and much more,” Malik said.

Founded in 2016, Townscript also launched its presence in its first international market – Indonesia in January this year. The company is currently conducting a deep market study in markets in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong, besides Gulf countries, to launch its next international feet-on-the-street.

“As it is, we already have some initial business in these markets, and we are getting traction from Australia and US too. So we will study a prospective market before launching,” Sharma said.