Everfest

Orion Network Enterprises, Inc.
d/b/a Everest
Founded2014 (2014)
Founders
  • Jay Manickam
  • Paul Cross
  • Brad Dixon
DefunctJune 1, 2020 (2020-06-01)[1]
Headquarters
Austin, Texas
,
United States
Websitewww.everfest.com

Everfest was an Austin-based company that connects the festival community online. Festival-goers can find worldwide festivals, connect with friends, build a calendar and share content about festival experiences. Festival organizers work with Everfest to manage their online presence and market their event to attendees, including a perk system that allows organizers to provide discounts or free items to festival-goers.[2]

Everfest includes festivals of all types, grouping them across 12 categories: art, book, civic, cultural, faith, food, film, historical, music, performance, seasonal, and unique. The platform uses an algorithm to recommend festivals to festival-goers based on their likes and locations, as well as festivals they prefer or have attended previously.

History

Everfest was founded in the summer of 2014 by Jay Manickam (co-founder of uShip), Paul Cross (founder of Ticketbud), and Brad Dixon.[2]

In February 2015, Everfest was named one of 50 Startups to Watch by Built In Austin.[3]

In April 2015, Everfest closed an angel round of funding totalling $1.5 million, which included notable individual investor Bob Kagle (founder of Benchmark Capital) and a group from ATX Seed Ventures.[2][4][5] Everfest appeared on Product Hunt on April 5, posted by Ryan Hoover (founder of Product Hunt), and finished the day as the second-most upvoted product.[6]

Everfest was named to the Austin Chamber of Commerce's Austin A-List of Hottest Startups on May 14, 2015, one of 12 winners from a pool of 275 nominees. They were one of four winners from 160 in the Emerging category.[7][8]

In February 2016, Everfest was named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies of 2016.[9]

In September 2016, Everfest acquired competitor Fest300, with Chip Conley (Burning Man, Airbnb, Joie de Vivre Hotels) joining as Chief Strategy Officer in a part-time capacity.[10]

Everfest closed a $3.6 million Series A round of venture capital funding in June 2017. The round was co-led by Live Nation Entertainment and ATX Seed Ventures.[11] Charlie Walker of C3 Presents and Chris Shonk of ATX Seed Ventures joined Everfest's board of directors as part of the deal.[12]

In February 2020, Everfest was acquired by Qcue, an Austin company that provides dynamic pricing software for live entertainment events. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.[13]

On June 1, 2020 the company's Instagram posted their last message as of 9 July 2024.

Company culture and philanthropy

Everfest competed in the 2015 Austin Startup Games as part of the ATX Seed Ventures team, earning a $1,000 donation to The Bunker, Austin.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Instagram". June 1, 2020. We are temporarily shutting down Evervest
  2. ^ a b c Constine, Josh (April 3, 2015). "Do Something Epic with Everfest's Festival Finder". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  3. ^ McLean, Tessa. "50 Austin startups to watch in 2015". Built In Austin. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  4. ^ McLean, Tessa. "Everfest comes out of stealth mode, raises $1.5M and plans to hire in-house costume designer". Built In Austin. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  5. ^ Meadow, Matthew (April 4, 2015). "New App Lets You Discover Any Festival, Anywhere". Your EDM. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  6. ^ Hoover, Ryan. "Everfest on Product Hunt". Product Hunt. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  7. ^ Hawkins, Lori (May 14, 2015). "12 more startups in Austin join chamber's A-List". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  8. ^ "Austin's 12 'most promising' startups revealed". TechFlash. Austin Business Journal. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  9. ^ "Everfest Ranked Among Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies of 2016". Everfest. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  10. ^ Calnan, Chris (September 20, 2016). "Austin online festival hub buys San Francisco-based competitor". Austin Business Journal. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  11. ^ Magistretti, Bérénice (June 1, 2017). "Everfest raises $3.6 million to connect people with festivals around the world". VentureBeat. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  12. ^ Aswad, Jem (June 1, 2017). "Everfest Raises $3.6 Million from Live Nation, ATX Seed Ventures". Variety. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  13. ^ Hawkins, Lori. "Austin online festival hub Everfest sold to Qcue". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  14. ^ Lorek, Laura (January 26, 2015). "SpareFoot Wins Austin Startup Games Again". Silicon Hills News. Retrieved April 13, 2015.