Last Updated on August 25, 2020 by YGK News Staff
The Kingston Economic Development Corporation has recently invested in Bounce, a new platform that aims to streamline the event management process. The platform is described as a community-focused event discovery and ticketing platform.
Bounce seeks to centralize event hosting, advertising and payment processing under one roof. The venture is now leveraging its platform to raise money for the Black Lives Matter Movement through a virtual charity concert, showcasing local Kingston performers.
“Centered around ticketing, increasing guest engagement, and creating communities, we are the one-stop-shop for your social event needs where we even handle custom apparel and drink sponsorship through our local partners.” Sean Monteiro, co-founder of Bounce said.
Solving the event problem
The idea for the platform began when Sean and Francesco noticed the impact that events have on their university experience. From the duo’s perspective, events defined the university experienced. As they tried to get more involved, they noticed that the current event management process was inefficient and needlessly expensive. Ten months ago they began working on the platform to solve this problem.
“The industry standard process limited the value they provided to their guests, and when fees were pushed to the ticket purchasers- it decreased attendance.” Monteiro said, when discussing their past event hosting experiences. “Bounce was created to mitigate headaches while also helping people share their passions and create lasting memories.”
The app seamlessly integrates event hosting and event attendance in one platform. For hosts to use the platform, they are asked to pay a processing fee of 3.2% + $0.60 from each ticket sold. In return, guests can access unique features such as google form integrations and customized event newsfeeds and can view the events that others are attending. Monteiro believes that these features make it more unique than current event platforms such as Eventbrite. It also adds to its crowdfunding predecessors, such as Tilt, which was later acquired and discontinued by Airbnb.
Building the app did not come without its challenges. The pair are engineering students with full course loads, which caused them to have to deal with additional challenges. They told YGK News that they made their fair share of sacrifices, from sleep to free time. Despite this, every new user of the platform became motivation to persevere.
User experience
The platform can be accessed through its Bounce app or on its website Bounceapp.ca. Once on the platform, you are taken to a dashboard where you have the option of being a host or being an event participant. There is the option of creating an event, requesting money, sending money, or inviting your friends to use the platform.
Bounce has also been able to support local businesses through its platform. The app developers forged a partnership with the MacKinnon Brothers Brewing, who have helped them access the university market.
“Our partnership with Bounce has helped us access the sometimes-fickle university market. The team at Bounce is also very flexible and collaborative, striving to ensure a seamless experience for all parties involved.” Dan Mackinnon, Co-Owner and Brewmaster of Mackinnon Brothers Brewing said. The brewing company sponsors a “MacKinnon Tier” for $25, which gets participants a taster 6 pack delivered to the homes of the virtual concert go-ers.
According to their website, the Bounce has also partnered with GoogleCloud for Startups, MongoDB Startup Accelerator, the Queen’s Dunin-Deshpande Innovation Centre, and Montreal based venture “The Sweater Guys.”
Tickets for the concert can be purchased here and the app can be downloaded here
