Amsterdam-based startup Close has developed a marketing platform and mobile app for organisers in the event industry. Through its chat-based app, organisers can easily share exclusive information with attendees immediately after they buy their ticket, as well as during and after the event. Founded in 2017, the startup has just raised €3 million in a round led by Disruptive Technology Ventures.
Buying a ticket for a concert or museum is usually the end of a transaction instead of the beginning of a valuable relationship between an artist or a brand and a visitor or customer. Close wants to change this, creating a better experience for event goers. With Close, guests can access exclusive information, such as personal messages or the event program. Its platform also provides organisers with relevant customer data so they can better serve clients and create new cross-selling opportunities, for example to offer tickets for their next show.
“With the data, you can create more personalised experiences, but this is not yet used enough in the live event industry,” said founder Kiliaan Toorenaar. “With Close, we offer brands and organisers the technology with which to build that relationship with visitors, so that their experience before, during and after events is better and more beautiful.”
“Close is an instrument that allows me to interact with my clients for more time and more intensively,” said Nathalie Peters, Director of Digital Transformation, one of Close’s first clients. “In addition, the solution fits with the current Zeitgeist: platforms are being developed and we are all looking for ways to enrich consumer experiences.”
Kiliaan Toorenaar, the former commercial director of Marktplaats, started Close along with CTO Wiebe Weikamp (co-founder of the search engine Ilse) and Chris Gruijters. The company now empoyees 18 people at its office in Amsterdam.
