European Cashless Leaders PlayPass And Weezevent Merge

The newly merged group will be represented by six offices with more than 100 employees and over 1,200 event clients around the world including major music festivals like Lollapalooza (in Paris, Berlin and Santiago), Rock Werchter, Main Square, Hellfest, Rock En Seine, Frequency and Nova Rock.

Prominent sports brands like Formula 1, Red Bull Air Race, Paris St. Germain FC, Lausanne FC and the William Hill World Darts Championship also use cashless solutions provided by the merged entities. 

“The combined offering will represent an annual turnover of over £400 million,” the announcement states.

PlayPass, which is headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium, and Weezevent, based in Paris, France, have been supplying event on the European continent for years,  emerging as each others greatest competitors. 

Both companies hope to replicate their success in the UK in particular, where the merged company will be jointly headed by Steve Jenner of PlayPass and Olly Goddard of Weezevent.

The deal will also lead to the expansion of the group’s offices in Paris, Madrid (Spain), Antwerp, Lausanne (Switzerland) and Montreal (Canada). The companies will also make new hires to its in-house development team, in order to continue the development of its proprietary technology.

While the use of NFC (Near Field Contact) wristbands or cards has been becoming increasingly widespread among Europe’s festivals, there will be increased demand for cashless solutions in the live sector’s fight to get back to live.

Pre-orders for click-and-collect drinks, social distancing measures and adapted access control protocols for mass gatherings, are now part of the group’s latest product set.

The merged entity has yet to receive a joint new name, which may change going forward. UK festivals planning their return this summer using the group’s cashless technology include Standon Calling, 2000Trees, Black Deer, ArcTangent, Lakefest, Neverworld and the inaugural UnLocked Festival, with more to be announced over the coming weeks.

Speaking about PlayPass co-founders David De Wever and Dale Hofkens, Weezevent CEO Pierre-Henri Deballon said: “David, Dale and their teams share the same passion and vision as Weezevent for delivering a world class cashless experience, and after eight years of healthy competition, the time has come to form a new team that is stronger, more ambitious and more confident than ever.”

Added De Wever: “Our two companies are highly complementary and the consolidation of our expertise and experience now makes it possible to form the leader in cashless event solutions. The return to a normal post-Covid situation will accelerate the adoption of cashless everywhere. This is about being ready for the market while continuing to innovate.”

Commented Olly Goddard: “2020 promised a much wider adoption of cashless technology at events before our industry was put into lockdown. Though this natural progression was interrupted, we are looking forward to a productive 2021 and beyond, and our merger with PlayPass will put us in an even stronger position to deliver what consumers want and events need.”

Steve Jenner added, “As a competitor we have always held the utmost respect for Weezevent, in particular the strength of their technology, team and commitment to improving the visitor experience. To join forces with them at this time is a really exciting opportunity for us, our clients and the UK’s live events industry, placing us in a much stronger position to not only help the sector get back on its feet faster, but to emerge stronger than ever.”