Easel, a leading travel, and experience commerce technology company, is announcing the launch of Easol Capital, a new financing solution tailor-made for festival organizers. Easel Capital will create a fairer, flexible, and transparent financing process that puts control back in the hands of festival organizers.
CHALLENGING THE EXISTING ADVANCE MODEL: Sourcing capital can be difficult for SMEs in the events and travel industries, as traditional finance providers are reluctant to loan following the pandemic. Difficulties obtaining capital are compounded by the current cost of living crisis and ongoing supply chain issues which means having a reliable cash flow is more important than ever to secure the future of a festival. Until now, some ticketing platforms have looked to fill this gap by offering cash advances, but this comes at the expense of festival organizers. Whilst the advances are nominally free, festival organizers have often been tied into contracts with punitive terms around ticketing fees and long exclusivity, which limit organizers’ control over their own booking fees and data:
- Large fees: With traditional cash advances, festival and event organizers get charged up to 15% of their total turnover, plus other costs.
- Short advance lengths: Advances are also typically only extended for a few weeks which doesn’t always match the sales cycle of a festival.
- Profits withheld: Critically, 100% of sales are sometimes withheld until the loan is repaid, making cash flow extremely hard for festival organizers to manage.
BREAKING THE DEPENDENCY:Easol Capital is a tailor-made solution for festival organizers. It is designed with the festival sales cycle in mind and puts organizers back in control of their cash flow. Easel has partnered with specialized lending companies to offer easy access to funding – here’s how it works:
- Fairer lending terms: Easol Capital facilitated loans have no interest rate charged but instead, organizers pay a fixed fee which is a percentage of the borrowed amount, typically 5-12%, so it’s always transparent what the loan costs, and there are no hidden costs. To cover the borrowing cost, organizers can if they choose, absorb the cost of the loan into their booking fees.
- Flexible repayment options: Repayments happen automatically as a fixed percentage of weekly sales and adapt with revenue. So, if sales slow down, repayments do too. Most loans will be repaid within 4-8 months, and organizers can repay early or easily access more capital if their circumstances change.
- Quick and easy application process: Completing an application is free and only takes a few minutes. Organizers receive a decision within a day, and if approved can withdraw the loan immediately.
The above is subject to the terms of lending agreed with our festival organizers by our lending partners. Currently, Easel Capital can facilitate (subject to the festival organizer meeting the requirements of our partners) the provision of finance from £1k-£1.5 million for festival organizers, with loans currently live in the UK and US. There are active plans to expand loan sizes and enter most European markets in the next few months.
Ben Simpson, Co-Founder, and CEO of Easel explained: “We feel that Festival and event organizers have not been given the flexibility that they require from many traditional ticketing platforms and finance solutions, for too long. We’re super proud to launch Easol Capital so that we can offer an alternative that works with organizers rather than tying them into terms which may not work for them in terms of cash flow flexibility and in the long term.”
Benjamin Sasse, Co-Founder of Meadows in the Mountains, commented: “We secured funding from Easol Capital’s partners in its Beta phase, and it has been a game changer for our festival. The whole application process was so easy, and we had the money in our bank within 24 hours. Having access to capital during this time is crucial for us to be able to pay people on time and manage our cash flow across the different stages of the festival. Easel is the only provider on the market that gives the flexibility we need. They understand how the sales cycle works and have created a perfect solution.”
Easel will be outlining the benefits of Easol Capital at its Festivals Showcase event streamed globally on September 22, 2022. If you’re interested in finding out more about Easel Capital, please book in to speak with a member of our team here.
