We are very excited today to announce the first of two Keynote Speakers for next week’s 10th Founder Showcase:
It’s Kevin Hartz, Co-Founder & CEO of Eventbrite.
Kevin Hartz
There’s a lot of reasons to love Kevin, and Eventbrite. To put it concisely, Eventbrite embodies Silicon Valley. The company, launched in 2006, helped anyone launch an event and sell tickets online, disrupting the event industry. It was initially funded by Kevin, but has since raised nearly $80 million from Sequoia Capital and some of the most prestigious angel investors in the Valley. And, now it’s expanding it’s reach to other languages and territories. We use Eventbrite to power ticketing for the Founder Showcase and over 300 other events per year across the globe with the Founder Institute, and we couldn’t be happier.
Eventbrite’s growth can only be described as a prototypical hockey stick. The company doubled its number of sellers in 2011, has now sold over 55 million tickets, and is reported to be heading towards an IPO in 2012.
Kevin also is very active in the startup ecosystem, investing in and advising tons of great startups; including PayPal, Geni, Friendster, Airbnb, Counsyl, Milo, Skybox Imaging, Palantir, Indinero, TripIt, Flixster, Adnectar, Yammer, TokBox, iControl, Boku, Lookout, Anonymizer, and Trulia. He is also a partner with Youniversity Ventures, a Special Technology Partner at Sequoia Capital, and an LP at The Founders Fund, and NEA. You can see the full list of his activities on KevinHartz.com
And finally, Kevin’s Co-Founder at Eventbrite is his wife, Julia Hartz. How cool is that?