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BIZBASH — Jeffrey Osuji is the CEO of Eventnoire, a 3-year-old tech platform that enables organizations and event curators who celebrate Black culture to create events, fundraise and develop revenue from partnerships. In May, the Chicago-based company was named the winner of Mountain Dew’s Real Change Opportunity Fund Competition.
How he got his start: “I got my start in the event industry at the University of Illinois, where I started the event company Pyramid Solutions & Marketing. Our event company made just under half a million [dollars] annually from hosting local and national events. Our experience in the event space has allowed us to create a vast network of event hosts and consumers who have supported and will support Eventnoire.”
Gap his company fills in the industry: “Eventnoire fills the gap in payout between event organizers and ticketing platforms. We ensure clients who utilize our platform receive more for their tickets sold. We also recycle dollars back into the Black community by sharing the service fees we charge attendees with the event hosts who use our platform. This incentive, combined with cultural centricity, enables us to gain customer loyalty that other event platforms cannot easily mimic.”
Biggest lesson from the last year: “The pandemic heavily impacted our business since events were no longer being held in person. The biggest thing the last year has taught me is when faced with trying circumstances, the best businesses are able to be versatile, resourceful, innovative and continuously adding value to their consumers. We pivoted to hosting online events and educational discussions for our ecosystem of event organizers, to empower them with information that will help them be smarter and more profitable when events return. It’s also great to have multiple streams of income, and this is why we plan to launch three additional streams by January 2022.”
Career goals: “For Eventnoire to become the No. 1 platform for Black events and culture. We want to be the BET of events.”
Advice for his peers: “Figure out ways to leverage data to grow revenue, and listen intently to your customers.”
SOURCE: BIZBASH