A locally developed event ticketing platform, TicketMax, has received much-needed funding from the Government to build a native mobile app for both Android and Apple.
TicketMax’s founder George Fong was awarded a $30,000 grant via the Ministry of Trade’s Young Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES) in a handover yesterday.
“Fiji is moving towards a digital economy, not just using technology, but aiming for progress; and as your Government, we are committed to creating a future that is stronger, fairer and better for everyone,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade Manoa Kamikamica said during the grant handover ceremony at the ministry headquarters in Suva.
“This effort goes beyond just funding, it canvasses how well our assistance contributes to the well-being and development of our society, and as the Minister responsible for SMEs and Communications, I am confident that the development of online platforms such as TicketMax will help Fiji pave the way for economic prosperity.”
Mr Fong launched TicketMax in February this year to deliver an easy, efficient, and safe way for local organisers to set up and sell tickets for events online.
“In Fiji, the process of ticketing has been a very manual process and there weren’t many options for our local organisers,” Mr Fong said.
“TicketMax Fiji is the first and only 100 per cent local event ticketing platform, designed and built here for our unique context.
“Any organiser can sign up and register their organisation and event for free.”
Within 10 months of operation, the platform processed and issued more than $250,000 in ticket sales for over 40 successful events and many of the country’s top brands.
Since launching, Mr Fong and his team also introduced new features, including an interactive, visual seating chart that allows users to select and book their preferred seats.
Mr Kamikamica said the YES programme funded 14 recipients and invested over $300,000 in grants to promising local entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas.
“Collectively, we have $2.6 million in grant funding available at the ministry and we have already received a total of $4.7 million from 1450 applicants within a space of 4 months,” Mr Kamikamica said.
“For this reason, we need to find more innovative solutions, just like what George has embarked on, to meet the financing gap.”
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