By 2024, when Ticket9 won the support of South Indian cinema sensation Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan, a renowned director, the Coimbatore startup had already navigated years of tacit battles, tactical turns, and relentless grit. And it was all born out of an idea charted over late nights in 2019. Today, that idea has evolved into one of India’s hottest event-tech startups, feted for its groundbreaking SaaS offerings that streamline event planning and interact with audiences in more intelligent ways.
Building Against the Odds
Ticket9 was founded officially in 2022 by Yazhini Shanmugam and Santhos Premraj, though its genesis can be traced back to October 2019 when the duo, disillusioned by the manual chaos in event organising, registered the domain and released a beta version by early 2020. Both founders brought complementary perspectives: Premraj came from the trenches of event execution, organising marathons and live concerts, while Yazhini was a software team lead and a passionate event enthusiast.
They bootstrapped the venture with ₹18 lakh (approx. $22,000) from their savings, launching Ticket9 as a tool to help organisers “create, manage, promote, and monetise events of all sizes” as easily as creating an email account. But just as they started gaining traction, COVID-19 upended the live-events industry.
Forced to adapt, Ticket9 quickly developed capabilities for virtual and hybrid events, organising over 60 digital events, sports meets, webinars, business meetups, during the pandemic.
Those early pivots proved critical. In 2022, Ticket9 became a separate legal entity, Ticket9 Event Tech Pvt Ltd and by FY23, it reported $23,000 in revenue, with more than 270 events supported, ranging from marathons to creative festivals like Creaticon and sports carnivals such as the Coimbatore Badminton Championship.
The Platform and Its Promise
Fundamentally, Ticket9 is built to simplify and automate the most agonizing parts of event organization, from sending invitations and scheduling emails to checking tickets and handling check-in. The founders were early investors in a strong QR-check-in system, which has significantly minimized entry lines and mistakes at packed events.
User-friendly for first-time organisers yet flexible enough for large-scale events, Ticket9 also helps track ticket sales and engagement metrics. Its SaaS platform charges organisers a minimum 5% transaction fee per ticket sold, a competitive rate in the industry dominated by players like BookMyShow and Paytm Insider.
By mid-2023, the platform had gained a committed user base in metros such as Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Bengaluru, with the backing of a tiny but engaged 12-member team. They had their presence felt among more than 0.7% of the diversified Indian event-tech landscape, a humble but significant presence in an industry estimated to exceed $2 trillion worldwide by 2028.
Winning Investors, One Step at a Time
Ticket9 raised $120,000 in a pre-seed funding in May 2023 that was led by a range of investors who included M2P’s Prabhu Rangarajan, bitsCrunch’s Vijay Pravin Maharajan, and angel investors based in the US, Singapore, Australia, and Thailand. The funds were allocated towards building their technology backbone and driving international ambitions, beginning with the UAE and Singapore markets.
But the biggest endorsement came later that year when Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan came on board as investors. Contrary to popular speculation that the name “Ticket9” had anything to do with the celebrity couple (given “Nayanthara” translates to “star” and contains a ‘9’ in fan lore), the name was purely coincidental, it was coined in 2019 because the platform initially supported nine event categories.
The star couple’s investment wasn’t about the name but about the vision, diligence, and groundwork the founders had laid. As Yazhini put it during one investor meeting, the most compelling way to convince sceptics was to “build, grow, and let your work speak for itself” and the right people eventually took notice.
Beyond Business: A Personal Journey
For Yazhini, the climb has been intensely personal. Leaving a secure corporate job in 2017 to pursue entrepreneurship tested her financially and emotionally, she endured months with no income and bore the added responsibility of being the eldest in her family. There were moments when she doubted whether the sacrifices were worth it. But her resolve to “not give up” carried her through the storms.
Recognition eventually came not just in the form of investors but also awards. Yazhini was named “Women Entrepreneur of the Year 2024” by her college’s alumni association, standing on the same campus where she once stumbled through her first public speech. It was a full-circle moment that underscored how far she’d come.
Ticket9: A Vision for the Future
In 2023, Ticket9 launched India’s first Sponsor Connect platform, enabling brands of all sizes to find tailored sponsorship opportunities for events, further strengthening its positioning as an event-tech innovator.
Even today, Yazhini and Santhos insist that what they’ve built represents just 10% of their vision. The journey ahead, they say, involves scaling the platform globally, deepening technological capabilities, and continuing to redefine how people experience live, virtual, and hybrid events.
Their story is a testament to persistence, resourcefulness, and the quiet battles fought behind the scenes. As Yazhini told an audience of students recently: “Growth happens in the most uncomfortable spaces. The tough days don’t last, but your commitment takes you further than talent ever will.”
Ticket9 may have started small, but it is fast proving that even in an industry crowded with Goliaths, there is room for a David, as long as you keep showing up and letting your work speak.
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