Easol
A London platform for festivals, retreats, sports and venues that adds AI agents for sales, support and operations.
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Podcast Episode
🎙️ Deep Dive
Hyperexponential, Circuit Mind, Easol — $1.7B for insurtech, $25M for AI circuit design and $30M for event agents — Daily News October 28, 2026
Listen to the episodeAbout Easol
Ben Simpson (CEO) and Lisa Simpson built Easol after running Rise Festival and Beyond Adventures themselves. The platform brings websites, bookings, payments, marketing, support and guest data together for festivals, retreats, sports, adventure and entertainment businesses; named customers include Coachella, Stagecoach, Boots in the Park, Defected and Snowboxx. The company is headquartered in London with offices in New York and Los Angeles, and reports 2.8 million guests served in 2026 across more than 135 countries. After a $4.5 million seed round and a $25 million Series A led by Tiger Global in 2021, on October 28, 2026 it announced a $30 million Series A extension: $20 million in equity from existing and new investors and a $10 million debt facility from Viola Credit. The capital supports the launch of Teammates, AI agents for support, sales and operations.
The Story
It emerged from the founders’ experience running Rise Festival and Beyond Adventures and dealing with fragmented software.
How Easol works
Business Model
B2B platform for festival organisers, venues and experience-economy businesses; commercial terms are not public.
Products & Services
Key Products
- Piattaforma Easol
- Teammates
Core Use Cases
- Bookings and payments
- Selling festivals and experiences
- Guest support
- Recovering missed revenue
- Customer data management
Market & Clients
Key Customers
Festivals, venues, retreats, sports operators and other experience businesses, including Coachella, Stagecoach and Defected.
Geographic Presence
How Easol competes
Competitive Advantages
- Booking and payment data in one system
- Direct control of the guest relationship
- Agents embedded in commercial workflows
How Easol grows
Growth Strategy
Expand enterprise customers and AI-agent adoption across Europe and the United States.
Distribution Model
Direct B2B sales to experience operators.
Moat (Defensibility)
Customer transactional and operating data, end-to-end integration and vertical events expertise.
Regulatory Context
Payments, data protection, consumer rules and responsibility for automated actions vary by market.
Key Risks
- Event seasonality
- Dependence on transaction volumes
- Liability for automated actions
- Payment and guest-data security
- Debt servicing
Strategic Insights
- The advantage depends on concentrating commercial data in one platform.
- Debt reduces dilution but creates financial obligations distinct from equity.
Funding & Investors
Total Funding
Funding Rounds
- 2021 - Seed: $4,5M
- 2021 - Series A: $25M
Lead: Tiger Global - 2026 - Series A extension: $20M
- 2026 - Debt financing: $10M
Lead: Viola Credit
Key Investors
Founding Team
Founders
Key Metrics
Lessons from Easol
- Separating equity and debt makes the true financing structure clear.
- Direct operating experience can produce a more coherent vertical product.
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Read AnalysisSources
- Experience Commerce Platform Easol Raises $30 Million, Launches Total AI Solution For Experience Businesses — Easol / PR Newswire
- Event tech startup Easol secures $30M in new funding, launches AI agents for festival promoters — Music Business Worldwide
- Easol raises $25 million in Series A funding to power the rapidly expanding experiences and travel market — Easol / Business Wire