Partiful Launches First Monetisation Strategy With In-App Ticketing
The $27 million-backed firm, founded in 2020, will take a cut of sales as it moves beyond its free core product to compete in the digital invite space.
Partiful, the social event planning platform, has announced its first major monetisation strategy by integrating direct ticket sales within its application. Previously, hosts were required to direct users to external sites for payment processing, a process the company now describes as janky for both organisers and attendees. The new feature allows hosts to manage ticket tiers, capacity limits, payments, and QR code verification directly in the app.
Partiful will take a cut of sales, which hosts may absorb or pass to buyers as a fee. This marks a significant departure from the company’s previous stance of not generating revenue. CEO Shreya Murthy stated the move addresses friction for hosts and clarifies that a 2023 tweet stating “Partiful will not make money” was intended as a joke and has since become a meme.
The platform, founded in 2020 by former Palantir employees Shreya Murthy and Joy Tao, has been buoyed by $27 million in venture capital funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz. While the core product remains free, Partiful is introducing new features that users will have the option to pay for, with in-app ticketing serving as the initial step in this new era.
Murthy described the integration as an act of “unshittification,” arguing that the streamlined process removes the need for guests to leave the platform to complete purchases. The service gained significant popularity in the post-pandemic period around 2021 and became a hub for invites for a Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest in 2024.
Partiful aims to focus on smaller, community-oriented events rather than competing directly with major ticketing giants like Ticketmaster or AXS. However, Murthy expressed interest in hosting large-scale events, specifically mentioning Taylor Swift, though the immediate plan remains focused on local gatherings and social experiments.
The move comes as Partiful faces competition from established services such as Facebook Events and Apple Invites, as well as newer invite apps like Luma. Users have expressed concern regarding “enshittification,” where growth-driven monetisation can bloat user experiences, but the company maintains that the new tools are designed to improve functionality rather than alienate its user base.
