Poptop UK

What Poptop UK does

Poptop UK Ltd is a private UK company founded in 2014 and headquartered in Gateshead that operates a nationwide online marketplace connecting event planners with vetted local suppliers across more than 100 service categories spanning catering, photography and video, entertainment, and transport/equipment hire. The platform serves three customer segments: private party hosts (primary), corporate event planners, and wedding parties, with self-serve online booking accessible across all UK cities and counties. Customers enter their postcode, event date, and guest numbers to receive instant pricing and real-time availability from curated suppliers, with deposits (typically around 25%) paid through Poptop and balances settled directly with suppliers after events; funds are held in escrow and the platform offers a money-back guarantee via its Booking Protection feature.

The platform is built as a self-serve web product with no disclosed mobile app, no public API, and no documented AI/ML capabilities; the core technology is described as an online marketplace with instant pricing and real-time availability booking. Distribution is exclusively digital: the Poptop.uk.com website, SEO-optimized category and city pages, buyer's guides, and organic social channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram). Monetization is via marketplace commission on bookings, supplemented indirectly by supplier acquisition value. Poptop also operates a wholly-owned subsidiary, Gig Manager, which extends the corporate footprint into event management tooling.

Poptop has cumulatively raised approximately $1.6M across disclosed equity rounds from 2016-2021 (Majgaard, Northstar Ventures, DSW Ventures) plus an undisclosed 2022 round from North East Growth Capital Fund. The company is led by co-founder and CEO Eugene Shestopal, co-founder and CTO Ignat Thorovsky, and COO Andrii Bychkovskyi. Operational scale signals include 40,000+ completed birthday parties, nationwide UK coverage, and a Trustpilot "Excellent" rating of 4.8/5.

Name

Poptop UK

Legal name

Poptop UK Ltd

Website

https://poptop.uk.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Poptop UK Ltd operates a nationwide UK online marketplace connecting private party hosts, corporate event planners, and wedding parties with vetted local suppliers across 100+ categories including catering, photography, entertainment, and transport. The platform monetizes via booking commissions, with deposits held in escrow and money-back booking protection.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Event Services Marketplace

NAICS

Mobile Food Services (72233), Caterers (722320)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Mobile / On-Site Catering (Food Trucks for Events, Pop-Ups) (THAFAIAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Festival, Fair & Event Mobile Concessions (THAFAHAI), Mobile Beverage Vendors (Coffee/Juice/Tea Carts & Trucks) (THAFAHAF)

Keywords

• Event marketplace
• Party supplier booking
• Event catering services
• Entertainment hire platform
• Photo booth rental

Headquarters

HQ city

Gateshead

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Booking commission/transaction fees: Poptop operates as a marketplace platform taking a commission on bookings between customers and suppliers. Customers pay a deposit through Poptop's secure platform to confirm bookings, with the balance paid directly to suppliers after events. The platform holds deposits in secure escrow accounts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Poptop UK operates a nationwide online marketplace connecting event planners with vetted local suppliers for private parties and corporate events. Customers can browse, compare, and instantly book suppliers across 100+ categories including catering, photo booths, entertainment, and transport through a self-serve platform with secure deposit handling and booking protection.

Product overview

Poptop UK is a nationwide marketplace platform connecting event planners with curated suppliers for private and corporate events. The platform offers instant pricing, real-time availability, and booking protection. The core offering consists of the marketplace platform itself, supported by multiple service categories including catering services (private chefs, street food, BBQ, mobile bars), photo and video services (photo booths, inflatable photo booths, glambots, selfie pods, magic mirrors, 360 photo booths, audio guest books, car photo booths, event photographers), entertainment services (DJs, musicians, bands, magicians, dancers), and transport/equipment rentals. Key features include last-minute party booking for urgent needs and booking protection with money-back guarantees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Poptop UK Marketplace Platform A nationwide UK online marketplace connecting event planners with curated suppliers for private and corporate events, offering instant pricing, real-time availability, and booking protection.
• Catering Services Marketplace Curated catering options including private chefs, street food vendors, BBQ catering, hog roast, mobile bars, cocktail masterclasses, and various food vans (pizza, burger, Greek, kebab, sushi, crepes, churros, ice cream, coffee, bubble tea, fish & chips).
• Photo and Video Services Marketplace Photography and videography services including photo booths, inflatable photo booths, glambots, selfie pods, magic mirrors, 360 photo booths, audio guest books, car photo booths, wedding photographers, event photographers, and videographers.
• Entertainment Services Marketplace Entertainment booking including DJs, karaoke DJs, musicians, bands (jazz, acoustic, rock, swing, soul, tribute), magicians, comedians, stilt walkers, fire eaters, dancers (bollywood, belly, burlesque), and circus entertainment.
• Transport and Equipment Marketplace Event transport and equipment including party buses, limousines, vintage wedding cars, VW campervans, marquees, tents, gazebos, silent discos, hot tubs, and event staffing.
• Inflatable Photo Booth Hire Inflatable enclosed photo booths available for hire across the UK, featuring LED lighting, props, instant prints, and various designs for weddings, parties, and corporate events.
• Glambot Hire Luxury glambot hire featuring robotic camera arms for VIP video experiences, 360 drone video booths, and beauty cam-style content creation for red carpet events.
• Selfie Pod Hire Compact open-air photo booth pods for hire with touchscreen interfaces, digital props, instant printing, GIF creation, and social sharing capabilities for intimate gatherings.
• Audio Guest Book Hire Vintage rotary phone-based audio guest book rental allowing event guests to record voice messages for the hosts, delivered digitally after the event.
• Car Photo Booth Hire Unique photo booth experiences featuring vintage VW campervans, classic taxis, and penny farthing-style booths for distinctive event photography.
• Event Photographer Hire Professional event photographers for corporate events, private parties, and weddings offering various styles including documentary, candid, reportage, and commercial photography.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40,000+ birthday parties completed through the platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Bark.com: UK-based horizontal services marketplace connecting customers with local professionals across hundreds of categories, including events. Operates a virtually identical model to Poptop but with broader service scope beyond events, making it the closest direct competitor.
• Thumbtack: US-based marketplace connecting customers with local professionals for events, home services, and more. Uses a similar pay-per-lead/booking model and targets SMB event suppliers, the same supplier profile Poptop serves.
• The Knot Worldwide: Global wedding marketplace connecting couples with vendors including photographers, caterers, and entertainment. Overlaps with Poptop's wedding vertical in the UK, though The Knot is the dominant US-focused brand.
• GigSalad: US-based marketplace for booking event entertainers, musicians, DJs, and photographers. Highly comparable to Poptop's entertainment and photography categories with similar target customers and supplier profiles.

Broad incumbents

• Eventbrite: Large-scale event ticketing and discovery platform. While focused on ticketed public events rather than private party booking, it overlaps in the broader events marketplace category and represents a well-capitalized incumbent.
• Yelp: Established local business discovery platform with reviews and booking features. While broader than events, Yelp competes for high-intent event-supplier search queries and represents a major incumbent in local services discovery.

Regional players

• Hire Space: UK-based venue and event supplier booking platform. Competes directly with Poptop in the corporate and private event space, particularly for venue hire and event services, but with greater emphasis on venues.
• Zola: Wedding planning platform with vendor marketplace for photographers, caterers, and entertainment. Comparable to Poptop's wedding segment but primarily US-focused; both compete for the same wedding vendor advertising dollars.

Emerging players

• Fever: Discovery and booking platform for experiences and events. While focused on ticketed experiences, it competes with Poptop in the broader events-and-experiences discovery market and has significant UK presence.

Others

• BookingBug: UK-based scheduling and booking software provider for service businesses. While not a direct marketplace, it provides the underlying booking infrastructure used by some of Poptop's suppliers, representing an adjacent ecosystem player.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/poptopuk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gig-manager
• Instagraminstagram.com/poptopeventsuk

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors4 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 Poptop UK