EventRoom: the Cape Town startup that wants to be the Airbnb of events

If you want to book a table at a restaurant, a hotel room, or a cab, you can do so with a few swipes on an app. If you want to book a venue for an event though, you still have to do a lot of your own searching.

In Cape Town at least, one startup is looking to change that. Founded by sisters Moira Johnston and Nicky Rosin (the two left careers in law and accountancy to start the company) EventRoom sees itself as the Airbnb of event venues. Its primary aim is to streamline and simplify the fragmented event-booking process with features such as comprehensive search and filter options, upfront pricing, photos and, in the future, reviews.

According to a press release sent to Ventureburn, the startup has more than 400 properties listed from around South Africa, including everything from private beachside mansions to art galleries, wine farms, conference centres, bars, restaurants, hotels, lighthouses, warehouses, studios and even a crocodile farm.

“The other benefit of EventRoom is that we offer venue owners and private home owners the opportunity to make money from renting their properties for events – a system similar to Airbnb”, says co-founder and CEO, Moira Johnston.

EventRoom is currently free to all venues and users. However, it says it plans to monetise by charging venues a monthly subscription fee, with a few different options offering various added benefits linked to the available subscription options.

It also plans to add to its offering by managing the whole online financial transaction and booking process, and to offer venue owners insurance options to protect their properties.