Chicago startup Eventnoire, an event ticketing platform for the Black community, took home the top prize at the recent Mountain Dew Real Change Opportunity Fund Competition.
Eventnoire won top honors and a piece of a $1 million prize tool from Mountain Dew, which held a pitch competition this spring to support Black entrepreneurs. The Shark Tank-style competition included celebrity judges DJ Envy of The Breakfast Club, serial entrepreneur Morgan DeBaun, and television personality La La Anthony.
Eventnoire co-founder Jeff Osuji said the startup landed a "six-figure" check from the Mountain Dew challenge, but declined to specify the exact amount. He said between that funding and an earlier friends and family round, Eventnoire has raised $225,000 to date.
Founded in 2018, Eventnoire is an event ticketing platform specializing in events for Black professionals. Led by co-founders Osuji and Femi Masha, two chemistry majors who graduated from the University of Illinois, Eventnoire is a way for the Black community to connect, network and find events run by other Black professionals and creatives, Osuji said. Along with being a platform for selling event tickets, the startup also helps event organizers with promotion and marketing, as well as merchandise.
"We knew there was a need for Black people to be able to create a sense of community and find events that were culturally relevant for them," he said. "We pride ourselves on creating environments where people can be Black authentically and be themselves."
The startup was growing quickly, Osuji said, with its biggest sales weekend ever coming during Chicago's NBA All Star weekend in February 2020. Then, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic struck and revenue went to zero as the in-person events industry went dark. Osuji said Eventnoire quickly pivoted to virtual events to connect Black communities all over the country, and the startup was able to survive the pandemic slowdown with business now picking back up in 2021.
Eventnoire makes money through a 17% processing fee, which is passed down to the event ticket buyer. The startup then shares a portion of its processing fee with the event host, allowing Black-owned event planners to share in the ticket fee revenue. Osuji said it typically shares between 30 and 40% of the fee revenue with the event hosts. The startup hopes to put $1 million back into Black organizations each year, Osuji said.
The Mountain Dew startup challenge, which is part of parent-company Pepsi's 5-year, $400 million dollar initiative to uplift Black communities, will provide the startup with funding and increased visibility as Eventnoire prepares to capitalize on an event industry poised for growth as the city opens up and in-person meet-ups resume. Eventually, the startup plans to offer a subscription service to regular event organizers, and it's expecting to raise a seed round of funding later this year. Its goal, Osuji said, is to be an important tool to help connect the Black community and support Black events.
"We figured out there's way more value than just being a ticketing platform," he said. "We’re building community among Black creatives."
