Radiate

What Radiate does

Radiate The World, Inc., operating as Radiate, is a New York-based mobile social platform founded in 2017 that connects people around shared experiences at music festivals, concerts, parties, and other events. The core product is an iOS and Android app where users join event-specific communities (Event Bubbles), discover and match with other attendees through a mutual "Hey" system (with paid "Super Heys" and "Heydar Tokens" that reveal nearby interest), and participate in group chats and interest-based communities. The platform claims approximately one million users across more than 25,000 venues and thousands of weekly events, with marquee festival partnerships including Ultra, Bonnaroo, Lightning In A Bottle, Movement, and North Coast, plus distribution relationships with Insomniac and Live Nation.

The platform's technology layer is mobile-first with deep-linking into specific event communities, a mutual-opt-in matching system, and location-based proximity features. On top of the social core, Radiate operates a peer-to-peer marketplace for event tickets, festival passes, and merchandise, with all transactions processed through PayPal to provide buyer/seller protection. The premium subscription tier, Radiate Glow, adds enhanced features such as increased Super Hey limits, read receipts, advanced filtering, unlimited Pulses, monthly Heydar Tokens, and the ability to undo swipes.

Radiate's revenue model combines three streams: per-transaction facilitation fees on marketplace sales, recurring subscription revenue from Radiate Glow, and microtransaction revenue from individual Heydar Token purchases. The company employs a freemium GTM model with community-led and event-driven growth, leveraging festival partnerships and organic social sharing across iOS App Store, Google Play, Facebook, X, TikTok, and Instagram. The company is privately held, founder-led by Michael Tom, operates with a small core team, and has raised approximately $1.4 million from Ahimsa Capital and Lerer Hippeau in a February 2020 round. No revenue, ARR, or GMV figures have been publicly disclosed.

Name

Radiate

Legal name

Radiate The World, Inc.

Website

https://radiatetheworld.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Radiate is a New York-based mobile social platform, founded in 2017, that connects users through music festivals, events, and shared interests via event-specific communities, mutual matching, and a PayPal-protected peer-to-peer ticket marketplace, with monetization through subscriptions and transaction fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Networking Platform

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Messaging-Led Community Platforms (Chat/Group Communities) (MPACAJAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community/Group Chat Platforms (BPAMACAH), Virtual & Hybrid Event Platforms (Webinars, Virtual Venues, Event Hubs) (THAHAOAA), Event Mobile Apps & Second-Screen Experiences (Agendas, Messaging, Push, Check-in) (THAHAOAG)

Keywords

• Social event networking
• Festival community app
• Peer-to-peer ticketing
• Event discovery platform
• Mobile social matching

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Marketplace Transaction Fees: Radiate charges a facilitation fee per marketplace transaction for buying and selling event tickets, merchandise, and passes. The fee is disclosed prior to purchase and covers fraud prevention, customer service, and platform development, including PayPal fees.
2. Radiate Glow Subscription: Premium subscription service offering enhanced features including extra Super Heys (4 per day vs 4 per week), read receipts for conversations, advanced filtering in the People section, unlimited Pulses, 1 Heydar Token per month, and ability to undo swipes.
3. Heydar Token Purchases: Heydar Tokens allow users to see who said 'Hey' to them nearby or at specific festivals. These can be purchased separately from the subscription.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Radiate operates a mobile-first social networking platform that connects users through shared experiences at music festivals, concerts, and events. Users discover local and major events, join event-specific communities ("Event Bubbles"), match with other attendees via a mutual "Hey" system, and participate in group chats. The platform additionally operates the Radiate Marketplace, a PayPal-protected peer-to-peer venue for buying and selling event tickets, festival passes, and merchandise.

Product overview

Radiate operates as a unified social platform centered on connecting people through shared experiences at events and festivals. The core Radiate app serves as the main social media platform for meeting new people, discovering events, and joining communities. The platform includes the Radiate Marketplace for peer-to-peer ticket and merchandise sales, and Radiate Glow as a premium subscription add-on. Key features include the Hey/Super Hey matching system, Group Chats, Communities, Plans, and the Explore tab for content discovery. The product ecosystem emphasizes in-person social connections through event attendance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Radiate (Core Social Platform) A mobile-first social networking platform that enables users aged 18+ to discover and join music festivals and events, connect with other attendees via a mutual matching system, join event-specific communities and group chats, and form social connections around shared experiences.
• Radiate Glow

Quantifiable outcome

• Platform reaches 1 million partygoers
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UltracoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor electronic music festival held in Miami, FL (Mar 27-29). Radiate hosts an official branded event page with 73,219 members and 1,040 ticket listings. Deep integration as a festival community platform with co-marketing presence.
• InsomniaccoreGTM or Marketing PartnerProminent festival promoter known for events like Electric Daisy Carnival, Electric Forest, and others. Listed as a brand partner on Radiate's website, indicating marketing collaboration for festival communities.
• Live NationcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerGlobal live entertainment company and major ticketing giant. Listed as a brand partner, suggesting partnership for event discovery and ticket marketplace integration.
• EDM.comminorGTM or Marketing PartnerElectronic dance music news and media platform. Listed as a brand partner, likely providing media exposure and content marketing within the EDM community.
• ForbesminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor media publication featuring Radiate in editorial content, lending credibility and brand awareness through earned media coverage.
• PayPalcoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment processor for the Radiate Marketplace. All marketplace transactions are handled entirely through PayPal with buyer and seller protection. Radiate does not process or hold funds directly; PayPal manages payment authorization and capture.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Yallo: Yallo is a social discovery platform that connects people based on shared activities and events, comparable to Radiate's event-based social matching concept. Both leverage shared experiences as the basis for forming connections, though Yallo is broader in scope while Radiate is focused on nightlife and festivals.
• Luma: Luma is an event hosting and discovery platform with strong community features, comparable to Radiate's event-bubble concept. Both enable event creation, attendee RSVP, and community building, though Luma focuses on organizers creating events while Radiate focuses on attendee-to-attendee matching.
• Poshmark: Poshmark is a peer-to-peer marketplace platform with social features, comparable to Radiate's P2P marketplace model combined with social engagement. Both leverage community trust signals and social interactions within marketplace transactions, though Poshmark focuses on fashion while Radiate focuses on event tickets and merchandise.

Broad incumbents

• StubHub: StubHub is a major secondary ticket marketplace comparable to Radiate's P2P marketplace for event tickets. Both facilitate peer-to-peer ticket transactions, but StubHub is a broad incumbent across all event categories with significant brand recognition and buyer/seller protections, while Radiate is niche to festival attendees.
• Discord: Discord is a large-scale community chat platform with server-based group features, comparable to Radiate's group chats and communities. Both serve interest-based community formation with chat functionality, but Discord is a broad incumbent across gaming and interests while Radiate is mobile-first and centered on event attendance.
• Eventbrite: Eventbrite is a large-scale event ticketing and discovery platform, comparable to the marketplace and event discovery aspects of Radiate. Both serve event-goers and event organizers, but Eventbrite has much broader event category coverage and primary ticketing capability versus Radiate's festival focus and P2P resale marketplace.

Direct peers

• Resident Advisor: Resident Advisor is a global electronic music community and event listing platform, directly comparable to Radiate's EDM festival focus. Both serve electronic music event-goers with event discovery, community features, and ticketing, though RA is more established globally with editorial depth.
• Meetup: Meetup is a community-based platform that organizes in-person gatherings around shared interests, directly comparable to Radiate's group/community features for events. Both monetize group formation around physical attendance, though Meetup serves broader interests while Radiate is focused on music events and festivals.
• Shotgun: Shotgun is a mobile platform for discovering and buying tickets to electronic music events, directly comparable to Radiate's EDM festival focus and ticketing marketplace. Both serve the electronic music event community with discovery and ticketing features, and both target similar festival-going demographics.
• Bandsintown: Bandsintown is a music-focused social platform that connects fans with live concerts and festivals, similar to Radiate's event-attendee community model. Both serve the music event discovery and social connection use case, though Bandsintown emphasizes artist tracking while Radiate centers attendee-to-attendee matching.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/radiatetheworld
• Facebookfacebook.com/radiatetheworld

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Radiate