Ralston, NE April 5, 2021 – Local tech startup Event Vesta finalized a pre-seed round investment valued at more than $500,000 with local venture capital firm I See It Ventures, founded by Gordon Whitten the founder of several successful Nebraska startups including ItsDeductible, Sojern, and ScoreVision. This funding represents the first tech investment by Gordon’s firm and a key part of their economic development plan in the Ralston Hinge Opportunity Zone.
“Event Vesta has an exciting value proposition much like the companies I have launched in the past,’ said Gordon, CEO of I See It Ventures. “They have a rockstar team led by motivated and smart entrepreneurs, and I was very impressed that they were still signing up dozens of new customers across, even during COVID. I am certain they are a great fit for our Opportunity Zone business accelerator at the heart of the Metro.”
Andrew Prystai, co-founder of Event Vesta, said he was “ecstatic” when they came to terms with Gordon and I See It Ventures.
“When we were working on raising our financing round, Gordon was on the top of the list for investors we wanted” he said “no one has successfully built multiple large companies in our industry, in Omaha like he has”. “With I See It Ventures guidance and mentorship, we know that we can achieve our goals of building a nationally known entertainment and events platform from right here in Nebraska”
With these funds, Event Vesta plans to hire several local developers, sales, and support roles to sustain their current growth and to prepare for the recovery in the events and entertainment industries that will come with the anticipated COVID-19 vaccine distributions across the country by this fall.
Billy Martin, co-founder of Event Vesta, spoke about the timing of the investment, as communities across the country aspire to return to a semblance of normalcy throughout 2021.
“Had you told me we’d have to raise a round of seed financing during a global pandemic, I might have thought a little harder when Andrew pitched me on helping him build and launch a startup in the event industry. Fortunately, we found a way to keep growing through it all, and before we even secured this new capital, we were growing faster than we were before the pandemic. Our momentum has really shifted in the right direction across the board over the past few months, and I think our partnership with I See It Ventures has ensured that our team will make a real impact this year on communities all over the country, especially when forecasting for events to make a strong comeback during the summer and fall.
This marks Event Vesta’s second round investment, as they raised their initial capital from local angel investors and from the Omaha Chamber’s Startup Collaborative Murphy Fund. David Brown, President and CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber, said about this new investment that, “Event Vesta launched its original platform as a fellow of The Startup Collaborative, a Greater Omaha Chamber program; and, we could not be more proud of the progress and initiative their team has shown. What a testament this recent announcement is to the confidence of Event Vesta’s stakeholders and the collaboration of this region,”
Both Founders had positive things to say about their participation in the program, “‘The Startup Collaborative and the Greater Omaha Chamber were instrumental in helping us from our founding days at their Breakthrough Weekend event through helping us survive COVID, we wouldn’t be here today without them” says Andrew, while Billy believes “The Startup Collaborative and the Greater Omaha Chamber play a really important role in fostering very early-stage startups and ideas in Omaha. They add legitimacy at a stage when many companies don’t have any of their own through mentorship, a community of other founders in a similar position, and an atmosphere of hustle that any good startup scene needs”
About Event Vesta:
Event Vesta, selected as a top 10 Omaha Startup by the Tech Tribune, is a leading event promotion startup company that helps event organizers easily promote their event locally in over 30 markets across the United States. They are currently finishing a mobile app that will provide a patent-pending way for users to find events and activities to do with their friends and family.
About I See It Ventures:
I See It Ventures is a venture capital firm founded by Gordon Whitten. The firm is leveraging opportunity zones to make investments in companies that have high-growth potential, with the goal of creating more jobs in the Ralston and Greater Omaha metro area. Whitten has 30 years of experience building highly successful software companies in Nebraska. Some notable companies founded by Whitten include Sojern, Scorevision, ItsDeductible, and ItsDeductible. The last of which was acquired by Fortune 500 company Intuit in 2003, which led to Whitten serving as a Vice President at Intuit for 4 years.
