VenueNow

What VenueNow does

VenueNow operates an online marketplace that connects event organisers with venue listings across Australia and New Zealand. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Sydney under the legal entity SPARE GROUP PTY LTD (ABN 22 607 830 302), the platform enables users to search, filter, compare, and enquire about venues by location, event type, capacity, budget, and amenities, with a stated catalogue of 10,000+ venues and over 150,000 event organisers served alongside 30,000+ companies. The core technology is a searchable venue-listing platform with a separate partner-facing Venue Manager dashboard for venues and suppliers to manage enquiries and bookings.

The business operates a hybrid go-to-market model. On the demand side, VenueNow is offered free to event organisers via self-serve online search and a paid human-assisted 'VenueNow Concierge' service in which Venue Consultants source venues, collect quotes, and facilitate bookings for corporate clients. On the supply side, revenue is generated through venue listing/subscription fees and an enquiry-credit system, functioning as a marketplace commission model. Customer acquisition relies on SEO-optimised city and event-type guides, social media, Google reviews (5/5 rated), and brand-driven corporate lead generation; named enterprise customers include Amazon, ANZ, Bupa, Commonwealth Bank, Deloitte, Google, L'Oreal, and Woolworths. Leadership comprises founder/CEO Jake Dimarco, Director Les Szekely, and Head of Product and Growth Dave Smith. The company has raised only small undisclosed angel rounds from Melbourne Angels (2017) and Brisbane Angels/Grand Prix Capital (2018) and appears bootstrapped beyond that, with no AI/ML, mobile app, or public API offerings disclosed.

Name

VenueNow

Legal name

SPARE GROUP PTY LTD

Website

https://venuenow.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

VenueNow is a Sydney-based two-sided online marketplace, founded in 2013, that connects event organisers in Australia and New Zealand with 10,000+ venues via self-serve search and a free corporate concierge service, monetising through venue listing fees and enquiry credits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Event Venue Marketplace

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events without Facilities (711320)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Venue Sourcing & Site Coordination (HSACAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Party Venue Sourcing & Booking Services (HSACACAL), Venue Management & Booking Services (Third-Party Operators) (MPAGALAJ)

Keywords

• Event venue marketplace
• Venue booking platform
• Event space rental
• Corporate venue sourcing
• Event supplier directory

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Venue Subscription/Listing Fees: Venues pay to list their spaces on the platform, gaining access to high-intent event organisers searching for venues. The platform acts as a marketplace connecting venues with customers.
2. Enquiry Credit System: Venues purchase enquiry credits to receive customer enquiries. '$50 bonus enquiry credit' mentioned for connecting a payment method.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

VenueNow operates an online marketplace connecting event organizers with venues and event suppliers across Australia and New Zealand. Event organizers can search, compare, and book over 10,000 venues free of charge, while a free Concierge service provides expert-assisted venue finding, quote collection, and booking facilitation for corporate clients. Venues pay listing/enquiry credit fees to access the platform's customer base of 150,000+ event organizers and 30,000+ companies.

Product overview

VenueNow is a marketplace platform for booking venues and event suppliers in Australia and New Zealand. The core product is the VenueNow Marketplace, which enables event organizers to search, compare, and book venues. This is complemented by the VenueNow Concierge (Corporate Venue Finding Service), a free venue-finding assistance where Venue Consultants help find and book venues on behalf of customers, and the Event Price Calculator for instant cost estimates. The platform serves both individual event organizers and corporate clients through dedicated interfaces.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• VenueNow Marketplace Primary online marketplace platform connecting event organizers with 10,000+ venues and event suppliers across Australia and New Zealand. Enables free search, comparison, and booking of venues for events ranging from small meetings to large conferences.
• VenueNow Concierge (Corporate Venue Finding Service) Free, expert-led venue finding service where Venue Consultants help customers find venues, collect quotes from multiple venues, negotiate pricing, and complete bookings on behalf of event organizers. Saves an average of 10 hours per event and is targeted at corporate clients.
• Event Price Calculator Free online tool providing instant event price estimates and venue recommendations in under 10 minutes based on user-provided event details. Used as a lead generation and self-serve planning tool by event organizers.
• VenueNow for Venues & Suppliers (Partner Platform) Partner-facing platform allowing venues and event suppliers to list their spaces, manage enquiries, process bookings, and access reporting dashboards. Operates on a listing/enquiry credit revenue model.

Quantifiable outcome

• Saves average of 10 hours per event for corporate clients

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Peerspace: Peerspace runs a marketplace to discover and book meeting, event, and production spaces by the hour. Highly comparable marketplace model to VenueNow, but US-focused and skewing toward unique/short-term rentals versus corporate function venues.
• Cvent: Cvent is a global, scaled event-management and venue-sourcing platform with deep enterprise adoption. Comparable to VenueNow's corporate-facing VenueNow Concierge offering, but operates at much larger scale and across a broader event-tech stack.
• Splacer: Splacer is a marketplace for unique and creative event spaces, primarily in the US. Closely parallels VenueNow's marketplace model for event-organizer-to-venue matching, but skewed toward distinctive/non-traditional spaces rather than hotels and function centres.
• The Knot Worldwide: The Knot Worldwide operates leading wedding planning marketplaces (The Knot, WeddingWire, Bodas.net) including venue discovery and vendor booking. Comparable to VenueNow's wedding-segment offering, though much larger and with wedding-only focus.
• Eventbrite: Eventbrite is a large global event ticketing and registration platform adjacent to VenueNow's marketplace. Overlaps on the organizer side of event planning but does not focus on venue discovery and booking as core.

Regional players

• Hire Space: Hire Space is a UK venue and event-space marketplace with both self-serve and concierge-style booking support. Closest geographic analog to VenueNow in English-speaking market dynamics and dual GTM (self-serve + assisted).
• HeadBox: HeadBox operates a venue and experience marketplace in the UK and Ireland for meetings, events, and parties. Directly comparable to VenueNow in venue-discovery and booking mechanics, though focused on UK/Ireland rather than AU/NZ.
• EventsAIR: EventsAIR is an Australian-headquartered event management platform serving corporate event planners. Geographically overlapping with VenueNow in ANZ and targeting the same enterprise-corporate-event buyer, but with an event-management software focus rather than venue marketplace.

Direct peers

• Offsite.com: Offsite.com is a corporate retreat and offsite venue marketplace with concierge-style support. Most direct functional peer to VenueNow's Concierge service for corporate clients, particularly in the meetings/offsite use case.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/venuenowaustralia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/venuenowaus
• Instagraminstagram.com/venuenow

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors3 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 VenueNow