Occasion raises $1.25M to help you split the cost of group activities
Nothing ruins the fun of a group activity like coordinating schedules or trying to get paid back by friends for tickets.
Occasion, a Chicago startup launched in 2013, has raised $1.25 million to add features to its appointment calendar software, the company announced Tuesday. A new private group system will let friends invite each other to buy tickets for the same activity.
Businesses that offer activities people attend in groups, such as theater performances, cooking classes and walking tours, are the target market for Occasion’s software, said CEO and founder Aksh Gupta. Its tools let businesses create calendars, accept bookings and payments, and offer bookings through their websites and Facebook pages.
“Our ideal business customer is somebody who offers experiences,” he said.
Occasion has nearly 200 paying customers, businesses that pay $59 to $99 a month. In and around Chicago, Occasion works with businesses including One Strange Bird, a kids’ painting studio; Little Beans Cafe, an indoor playground in Evanston and Chicago; Easel Art Studio, another art space for kids; and Purple Monkey Playroom, another indoor playroom.
Overall, the company has 1,500 businesses signed up in the United States, Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom. Most use its free calendar product, which does not allow advance payments.
Gupta said Occasion’s focus on group activities makes it different than companies such as Booker, whose clients include salons and tattoo parlors. Chicago startup Tock, which currently focuses on restaurant bookings, is eyeing expansion into other industries.
Hyde Park Angels led the round with participation from angel investors including Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of Malwarebytes in Santa Clara, Calif., and Patrick Spain, serial entrepreneur and CEO of First Stop Health in Chicago.
Occasion has six employees in Chicago, based at the Catapult coworking space, and one in India. Gupta said he will use the funding to hire a developer, a sales representative and a success manager. The company will also seek a larger office space and will expand marketing efforts, he said.
With the growing desire of consumers to make bookings without having to talk to a human, Occasion is smart to take on the group bookings space, said investor Gib Olander, who vetted the deal for Hyde Park Angels.
Olander, vice president of product at Chicago digital marketing firm SIM Partners and a former entrepreneur, said he liked Occasion’s technology and its leadership team’s lean approach to running its business.
“They are really smart, innovative and scrappy entrepreneurs,” Olander said. “As an investor, that’s an endearing quality.”
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