Kakao invests in Irish blockchain startup Festy

Festy, an Ireland-based ticketing startup, has signed a partnership and an investment deal with South Korean internet giant Kakao to develop blockchain-based payment and analytics applications, Fora reported.

Although the terms of the investment have not been disclosed, Festy founder Graham de Barra told Fora that part of the funds was invested in the form of tokens. He said that the backing of Kakao provides the startup with an opportunity for growth and to bring blockchain projects to life.

Founded in 2016, Festy has evolved from being a product for wristbands at music festivals that stored payments and ID data into a blockchain-based ticketing and payments platform.

Under the terms of the deal, the startup is working with Kakao’s blockchain subsidiary, Ground X, which is building Klaytn blockchain platform.

“What they like about us is a ticketing system for checking in and checking out for clubs and other types of live events,” Festy founder Graham de Barra told Fora. “It’s very good for organisers of events to see the flow of people in their events and they have this auditable real-time ability to see it on chain.”

De Barra said that the privacy-focused system will offer consumers greater visibility and control over what data is collected about them.

“We can allow a more transparent system for these transactions to occur where the consumer can get remunerated for contributing towards this big data that’s being built around them and the more they enrich it, the more they can earn or they can totally opt out,” he said.

Ground X recently raised $90 million in a private coin offering that saw participation from IDG Capital, Cresendo Equity Partners, and Translink Capital. Last week, it announced Klaytn’s third batch of 9 more initial service partners and said the mainnet will be launched at the end of June.

De Barra said that he expects to launch Festy on the platform in July.