Soul City

What Soul City does

Soul City is a private event agency headquartered in Shanghai, China, founded in 2018 as a subsidiary of PLTFRM GROUP. The company specializes in organizing retro-themed Blues and Swing dance events and is described as the sole provider of Blues and Swing dance classes in Shanghai. Its product portfolio comprises four signature branded events—Blue Harlem (~500 attendees, co-produced with Blue Note), the Christmas Circus (~1,300 attendees, co-produced with Scarecrow Travel at Mingtian Mall on Nanjing Road), the Pool Party (~200 attendees at Pudong Purple Mountain Hotel), and Soul in Halloween (~2,000 attendees, co-produced with BFC at the Bund Financial Center rooftop terrace)—alongside weekly social dance parties held at partner venues including Chair Club (since 2018, every Wednesday, up to 120 attendees), Mao Livehouse Shanghai (~100 attendees), and Mandrill (~30 attendees), and a recurring Blues and Swing class program at the Jing'an Temple venue.

The company operates in a single city and serves two distinct customer bases: consumer brands seeking experiential marketing access (Farfetch, Yongpu Coffee (永璞咖啡), Aquarius (正广和), Shanghai Guijiu (上海贵酒), WILL's (威尔士健身), MALO CLINIC (马泷齿科), VIOLA, Yeyo (yeyo椰子酸乳), Keepit, BlankMe, and Lucky Force) and individual dance enthusiasts. Revenue is generated through professional-services contracts for brand exposure at events, covering offline event hosting, product promotion, new product trial distribution, online and offline brand publicity, and pop-up booth rentals. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed.

Soul City maintains a community of nearly 2,000 dance enthusiasts (per the English website; the Chinese version states 1,000+), which forms the top-of-funnel audience for both recurring class sales and brand-activation campaigns. The company applies no proprietary technology in its events and has no app, API, or platform product; its operating model is offline, venue-based, and operationally labor-intensive.

Name

Soul City

Website

https://soulcity.cn

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Soul City is a Shanghai-based event agency that organizes retro-themed Blues and Swing dance events and classes, providing experiential marketing and brand activation services to consumer brands through a community of nearly 2,000 dance enthusiasts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Experiential Marketing and Event Services

NAICS

Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries (711), Dance Companies (71112), Musical Groups and Artists (71113)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Live Music Clubs & Venues (MPAGAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Nightclub & Small Live Venue Operations (Clubs, Bars with Stages) (MPAGALAF), Live Music Bars & Venues (CRANACAH)

Keywords

• Experiential marketing services
• Themed dance events
• Brand activation events
• Blues and swing classes
• Offline event hosting

Headquarters

HQ city

Shanghai

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Brand Exposure Services: Soul City generates revenue by providing brand exposure services during events, including offline event hosting for product promotion, new product trial distribution, online and offline brand publicity, and pop-up booth rentals at their events.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Soul City is an event agency that organizes retro-themed dance events and dance classes in Shanghai, and provides experiential marketing services (product promotion, brand exposure, new product trial distribution, pop-up booth rentals) to consumer brands during these events. Its portfolio includes recurring Weekly Social Party dance nights, large-scale Themed Events (Blue Harlem, Christmas Circus, Pool Party, Soul in Halloween), Blues & Swing dance classes, and Brand Exposure services for enterprise clients.

Product overview

Soul City is an event agency specializing in large-scale dance events and brand activation services. The company offers a portfolio of themed event products (Blue Harlem, Christmas Circus, Pool Party, Soul in Halloween) alongside recurring services (Weekly Social Party, Blues & Swing Classes, Brand Exposure Services). Events range in scale from 30 to 2,000 participants and target the urban fun-seeking youth demographic. Brand partners include Farfetch, Yongpu Coffee, Aquarius, BlankMe, and others. The company maintains a community of dance enthusiasts and provides both individuals and brands with social and dance experiences through offline events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Weekly Social Party Recurring weekly organized dance nights held at partner venues (Chair Club up to 120 people, Mao Livehouse around 100 people, Mandrill around 30 people), providing regular brand exposure opportunities, dance classes, and social gatherings for the Soul City community of dance enthusiasts.
• Blue Harlem Jazz and blues culture-themed party developed in partnership with Blue Note, featuring live band performances, retro-style dancing, boutique market stalls, interactive games, and polaroid photoshoots for approximately 500 attendees in a single-day ticketed event.
• Christmas Circus Large-scale indoor Christmas-themed event organized in collaboration with Scarecrow Travel at Mingtian Mall on Nanjing Road in Shanghai, hosting around 1,300 participants with band performances, live dance, Christmas market, interactive games, polaroid photoshoots, community sharing, and blind-date activities.
• Pool Party Medium-scale midsummer pool party event at Shanghai Pudong Purple Mountain Hotel rooftop swimming pool, accommodating 200 people with a live jazz band, pool dancing, pool activities, and food and beverage sales, suitable for cold drinks and alcohol brand promotion.
• Soul in Halloween Halloween-themed event organized with BFC at the Bund Financial Center rooftop garden terrace, a two-day weekend ticketed event for 2,000 people featuring blues funk and other live band performances, terrace dancing, boutique market, interactive games, and photo opportunities.
• Blues & Swing Classes Blues and Swing dance class service offering rolling monthly classes and customized corporate team-building courses, operated by the sole provider of Blues and Swing dance classes in Shanghai, held weekly at the Jing'an Temple venue.
• Brand Exposure Services Offline event services offering product promotion, brand exposure, new product trial distribution, online and offline brand publicity, and pop-up booth rentals at Soul City events for brand clients including Farfetch, Lucky Force, Yongpu Coffee, Aquarius, Shanghai Guijiu, WILL's, MALO CLINIC, BlankMe, VIOLA, Yeyo, and Keepit.

Named customers11 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Blue NotecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSoul City partners with legendary jazz and soul music label Blue Note for the Blue Harlem themed party event. Blue Note provides brand association with authentic jazz culture. Soul City sells tickets and organizes the event featuring live band performances and retro-style dancing for about 500 people.
• Scarecrow Travel (稻草人旅行)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSoul City collaborates with Scarecrow Travel, a travel company, to organize the Retro Christmas Garden Party (Christmas Circus). The large-scale indoor event is held at Mingtian Mall on Nanjing Road in Shanghai, hosting approximately 1300 participants with activities including band performances, Christmas market, and community sharing.
• BFC (Bund Financial Center)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSoul City partners with BFC (Bund Financial Center) to host the Soul in Halloween event at BFC's rooftop garden Terrace. This is a two-day weekend ticketed event for 2000 people featuring live band performances, terrace dancing, boutique market, and interactive games.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Sparks: Boutique experience marketing agency specializing in brand activations, pop-up retail and consumer events, closely matching Soul City's model of pairing themed live experiences with product trial distribution and brand exposure for enterprise clients.
• MKG: Creative experience agency building brand activations, immersive events and pop-up experiences for lifestyle and consumer brands. Directly comparable to Soul City in event-driven brand exposure and in-person audience engagement.
• Momentum Worldwide: Global experience-led marketing agency within IPG that designs and executes brand experiences, sponsorships, and live events for enterprise clients. Directly comparable to Soul City in offering experiential brand activation and pop-up engagement at owned and partner venues.
• MKTG: Dentsu-owned experience agency that specializes in live brand experiences, consumer activations, and content-driven events. Directly parallel to Soul City's blend of consumer engagement events and brand exposure services.

Broad incumbents

• Jack Morton Worldwide: Global experience brand agency (a Havas/Publicis-era network) that designs and produces live brand activations, pop-ups and event IP for major consumer brands. Comparable to Soul City as a brand experiential producer; differentiated by global scale versus Soul City's community-driven, dance-niche focus.
• IMG (Endeavor): Global events, licensing and experiential marketing business within Endeavor, producing large-scale branded events and sports/entertainment properties. Comparable to Soul City in operating recurring event IP and brand partnerships, though at vastly larger scale.
• GPJ (George P. Johnson): Long-standing global experience marketing agency producing large-scale brand events, experiential programming and corporate activations. Comparable as a peer in event-driven brand marketing, with broader category scope than Soul City's retro-dance focus.

Regional players

• BlueFocus Intelligent Communications: Largest Chinese marketing and communications group with brand activation, PR, digital and event capabilities. Comparable in delivering integrated experiential marketing for enterprise brands in China, though broader and tech-enabled versus Soul City's community-led dance niche.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/soulcity

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Soul City