Bandwango
Bandwango provides a mobile-first digital pass platform enabling destination marketing organizations, chambers of commerce, downtown districts, beverage associations, and universities to launch gamified visitor experiences, track verified check-ins, and drive measurable spending to local businesses across 500+ client communities.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersSalt Lake City, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Bandwango does
Bandwango is a mobile-first digital pass platform that enables destination marketing organizations (DMOs), chambers of commerce, downtown districts, food and beverage associations, and higher education institutions to create gamified visitor experiences that drive foot traffic to local businesses and capture verified economic impact data. The platform consists of an Experience Builder (drag-and-drop pass creation tool), Passholder Experience (web-delivered mobile passes requiring no app download, with GPS check-ins and gamified points redemption), Bandwango Connect (partner and merchant integration layer), and an Event Ticketing module with QR code scanning and real-time reporting. Revenue is generated through a mix of platform subscriptions/licenses, transaction fees on paid attraction and tasting passes, marketplace commissions on direct-to-consumer pass sales, and managed marketing services such as email campaigns and promotional support. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, sold primarily through an enterprise direct-sales motion with demo requests and partner-channel referrals, targeting government and quasi-government tourism budgets primarily in the U.S. and Canada. The company serves 500+ organizational clients and facilitates participation by 40,000+ local businesses, with documented outcomes including $16M+ in payouts to local merchants, $538K+ in single-statewide ticket sales (Alabama Tourism), 100M earned media impressions (Visit Detroit Pizza Pass), and 75K+ check-ins across all 50 U.S. states and 41 countries (West Virginia Waterfall Trail). Bandwango was founded in 2014 (incorporated in Delaware in 2020), is headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, and operates with a distributed team of 51-100 employees. Cumulative disclosed funding is approximately $9.25M across rounds from 2014-2023, with backers including NEXT Frontier Capital, Ocean Azul Partners, Kickstart, SaaS Ventures, and Signal Peak Ventures.
Bandwango firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Bandwango
- Legal name
- Bandwango, Inc.
- Website
- https://bandwango.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Bandwango provides a mobile-first digital pass platform enabling destination marketing organizations, chambers of commerce, downtown districts, beverage associations, and universities to launch gamified visitor experiences, track verified check-ins, and drive measurable spending to local businesses across 500+ client communities.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Bandwango industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Tourism Marketing Software
- akta.pro primary industry
- Local Experiences & Event Services Marketplaces (Photographers, Caterers, DJs) (BPAMAHAK)
Keywords
Where Bandwango is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Salt Lake City
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Bandwango business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Transaction Fees / Take Rate: Bandwango processes payments for paid attraction passes and tasting passes, taking a transaction fee. Utah Arts Festival processed over 50,000 orders through the platform in 2021.
- Platform Subscription / Licensing: Organizations pay for access to the Experience Builder and platform capabilities to create and manage digital passes for their destinations.
- Marketing Services: Managed marketing services including email campaigns, social media, and promotional support for pass launches.
- Paid Pass Distribution: Direct-to-consumer sales of paid attraction passes where Bandwango facilitates the transaction between passholders and partner attractions.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels12 records
Bandwango product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Bandwango provides a mobile-first SaaS platform that enables destination marketing organizations, chambers of commerce, downtown districts, food/beverage associations, and higher education institutions to create digital passes for local attractions, restaurants, breweries, and experiences. The platform tracks visitor interactions via GPS check-ins and QR code redemptions, delivers real-time analytics on economic impact, captures first-party opt-in data for retargeting, and processes payments with direct payouts to local business partners.
Product overview
Bandwango is a digital experience platform that provides a mobile pass system for destinations, tourism organizations, and local businesses to drive visitor engagement and revenue. The core offering consists of the Experience Builder (for creating digital passes), Passholder Experience (the consumer-facing mobile pass), Event Ticketing, and Bandwango Connect. The platform supports multiple pass templates including Paid Attraction Passes, Check-In Challenges, Savings Passes, Beverage Tasting Passes, Food & Restaurant Passes, and Restaurant Week/Month passes. Bandwango also offers managed Services & Support for customer service and passholder re-engagement. The platform tracks visitor interactions via GPS check-ins, delivers real-time analytics, and enables direct payout to local business partners.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Experience Builder A drag-and-drop tool that allows destination marketers to build and launch digital passes quickly, customize pass templates, add local merchants and attractions, and update content in seconds. Designed for organizations without technical resources to self-create digital passes for tourism attractions, restaurants, breweries, and experiences.
- Passholder Experience The mobile-first pass experience delivered to end users via text or email with no app required, featuring GPS check-ins, points tracking, gamification, and prize redemption capabilities. Used by visitors and tourists engaging with destination passes.
- Bandwango Connect A platform that enables connections between destinations, local businesses, and passholders for engagement and data tracking. Provides connectivity for managing partner relationships and merchant integrations.
- Event Ticketing Digital event ticketing platform with QR code scanning, mobile ticket access, promo code capabilities, and real-time reporting for events of any size. Includes payment processing for ticketed events.
- Services & Support Managed customer service, passholder support, and re-engagement services handled by the Bandwango team, reducing operational burden on client destination marketing organizations.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to $538K+ in ticket sales from single statewide pass programs
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Bandwango
Customer profileNamed customers17 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Bandwango technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature8 records
Bandwango partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and featured.
- SimpleviewcoreIntegration partnership for DMO marketing strategies combining Bandwango's digital pass technology with Simpleview's destination marketing platform. Joint webinar on amplifying DMO marketing strategies.
- Tourism JasperfeaturedFeatured partner destination using Bandwango for tourism engagement in Jasper, Alberta, Canada.
- Destination ClevelandfeaturedFeatured partner with 4,109 interactions tracked in a recent month period.
- Visit AlbuquerquefeaturedFeatured partner destination in New Mexico using Bandwango passes.
- Experience Grand RapidsfeaturedFeatured partner destination in Michigan promoting local attractions.
- Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee IslandfeaturedFeatured partner in Ontario, Canada with Barrels Bottles & Brews Fiesta event.
- Virginia WinefeaturedFeatured partner promoting Virginia wine country experiences.
- Visit Eau ClairefeaturedFeatured partner in Wisconsin with testimonial praising Bandwango's customer service.
- Cumberland Valley Visitors BureaufeaturedFeatured partner with 2,793 interactions in recent month. Coffee & Chocolate Trail generated 2,069 redemptions.
- Experience ColumbusfeaturedFeatured partner with Columbus-Style Pizza Trail (657 redemptions) and 3-Day Attractions Pass (567 redemptions).
- Visit CheyennefeaturedFeatured partner destination in Wyoming.
- Visit FranklinfeaturedFeatured partner destination in Tennessee.
- Visit IndyfeaturedFeatured partner with 1,119 interactions in recent month.
- Visit Tri-ValleyfeaturedFeatured partner in California with Ice Cream Trail, Beer Trail, and Restaurant Week passes.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Bandwango competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- CityPASS: CityPASS sells multi-attraction city tourism passes directly to consumers for major U.S. destinations, directly competing with Bandwango's Paid Attraction Passes product for the same DMO/end-customer use case.
- Go City: Go City (formerly Smart Destinations / Go City Card) operates multi-attraction passes across dozens of global destinations, the closest direct analog to Bandwango's paid attraction and tasting pass products for DMOs.
- Leisure Pass Group: Leisure Pass Group operates multi-attraction city passes (The New York Pass, The London Pass, etc.) globally, directly comparable to Bandwango's paid attraction pass model for destination marketing clients.
Broad incumbents
- Eventbrite: Eventbrite is a large-scale event ticketing and registration platform with QR scanning and promotional tools that overlap Bandwango's Event Ticketing product, though Eventbrite does not focus on multi-merchant destination passes.
- Groupon: Groupon operates a local experiences and deals marketplace connecting merchants to consumers, overlapping with Bandwango's Savings Pass and food/beverage association use cases at much larger scale.
- Viator: Viator (a Tripadvisor company) operates a global tours, activities, and attraction marketplace — a much larger-scale analog for the consumer side of Bandwango's paid attraction and tasting pass offerings.
Emerging players
- Arrivalist: Arrivalist provides DMO-focused visitor attribution, economic impact measurement, and journey analytics — a direct complement/competitor to Bandwango's analytics and ROI-proofing capabilities for destination clients.
- Tempest: Tempest is a DMO and tourism marketing platform offering websites, CRM, and digital marketing services; it competes with Bandwango for the same DMO technology budget and integrates overlapping pass and engagement functionality.
Others
- Simpleview: Simpleview is the dominant CRM and marketing platform for U.S. DMOs and a strategic integration partner of Bandwango. While not a direct competitor, it is a key ecosystem participant whose product direction influences Bandwango's roadmap and channel access.
- Peach (formerly GroupHigh): Peach provides influencer marketing and content tools with strong DMO/tourism client overlap; it is a complementary ecosystem vendor rather than a direct pass-platform competitor.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Bandwango financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Bandwango leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
Bandwango funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Bandwango M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Bandwango
What does Bandwango do?
Bandwango provides a mobile-first SaaS platform that enables destination marketing organizations, chambers of commerce, downtown districts, food/beverage associations, and higher education institutions to create digital passes for local attractions, restaurants, breweries, and experiences. The platform tracks visitor interactions via GPS check-ins and QR code redemptions, delivers real-time analytics on economic impact, captures first-party opt-in data for retargeting, and processes payments with direct payouts to local business partners.
Is Bandwango a public or private company?
Bandwango is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Bandwango founded?
Bandwango was founded in 2020. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Bandwango based?
Bandwango is headquartered in Salt Lake City, United States, in the North America region.
How does Bandwango make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Transaction Fees / Take Rate is the primary driver. The others are platform Subscription / Licensing, marketing Services and paid Pass Distribution.
Who are Bandwango's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are CityPASS, Go City and Leisure Pass Group. Broad incumbents are Eventbrite, Groupon and Viator. Emerging players are Arrivalist and Tempest. Others are Simpleview and Peach (formerly GroupHigh).
Does Bandwango have an API?
No public API is recorded for Bandwango.
What industry is Bandwango in?
Bandwango's product category is Tourism Marketing Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAHAK, Local Experiences & Event Services Marketplaces (Photographers, Caterers, DJs).