In a market where energy exists but visibility does not, captures how Ticket wala emerged as a structural solution rather than just another startup. Founded by globally exposed yet locally grounded entrepreneurs, the platform addresses a critical disconnect in Pakistan’s live events ecosystem: the absence of a unified discovery and access point. This conversation with Rehan Botejue unpacks how Ticket wala evolved from identifying fragmented audience engagement to building an integrated entertainment infrastructure that connects fans, artists, promoters, and brands while staying rooted in sustainability over hype-driven growth.
Boardroom: What inspired you to start Ticket Wala? Was there a particular gap in the market that you wanted to address?
Rehan Botejue: Ticket Wala was founded by three childhood friends, including myself. We all studied together in Karachi during our early years and ultimately pursued higher education in different parts of the world. I went to New York for university, while my co-founders studied in the United Kingdom and Turkey.
During their university years, both of my partners were deeply involved in organizing and promoting events. One of them was actively running an electronic music collective in Turkey and hosting large events as a DJ. The other was organizing major student events in the UK, including a large university ball that became even more popular than the university’s own official event. Living in New York (and Madrid/ San Juan through study-abroad programs), I myself was exposed to some of the most vibrant event scenes in the world.
When we all eventually returned to Pakistan, the gaps in the local live event market were immediately apparent. Megacities like Karachi and Lahore have massive urban youth populations with discretionary income, but the general feeling in the market always seemed to be that there was ‘nothing happening’. Upon closer scrutiny, this wasn’t the case. Every category of event had been occurring, from comedy to theatre to electronic shows and concert gigs. The problem was that most events were too niche. There was no centralized platform that effectively connected audiences with promoters, acting as a comprehensive directory and promotional voice for events. The event scene needed a major awareness campaign and a one-stop solution for consumers to find and access events. Ticket Wala took on the challenge, and today we’re the central link operating at the nexus of fans, promoters, artists and brand sponsors.
Boardroom: The name ‘Ticket Wala’ is quite distinctive. How did you arrive at it?
Interestingly, we only realized the strength of the name over time. When we first chose it, the intention was to keep it simple and avoid anything too cool or abstract. “Ticket Wala” is memorable and culturally intuitive for the Pakistani market. In retrospect, it turned out to be the perfect name to rapidly scale with in entertainment.
Boardroom: Ticket Wala has collaborated with several brands and partners over time. Are there any partnerships that you consider particularly strategic?
Rehan Botejue: I would say our most strategic advantage, and moat, has come from our decision to vertically integrate our entertainment operations through the inception of our talent management segment.
Artists and performers are at the center of any events ecosystem. When artists actively promote their events and ticket links, it creates powerful organic marketing. Their audiences trust them, and that trust by proxy extends to Ticket Wala.
We have also built a dedicated artist section on our website where users can submit booking requests for artists, which our team facilitates. This has effectively expanded our platform beyond ticketing into a broader live entertainment ecosystem.
Boardroom: How has this focus on talent contributed to Ticket wala’s growth?
Rehan Botejue: Integrating artists into the platform has significantly strengthened our brand equity and ubiquity. It’s brought significant revenue to us - we represent them for gigs, brand deals and label deals, and earn on commissions the same way we do on sold tickets. It’s a competitive advantage as well - our artists under management ticket exclusively through us, and go out of their way to promote us.
Boardroom: Many startups in Pakistan raised significant venture capital during the 2021–2022 startup boom. How did Ticket Wala approach growth during that period?
Rehan Botejue: We did not end up raising venture capital, ever. Just an initial family and friends round. In hindsight, not raising shaped our approach to this business positively. Rather than banking on capital-fueled growth, we’ve concentrated on building a sustainable and profitable business.
Boardroom: What role do event promoters play in Ticket Wala’s ecosystem?
Rehan Botejue: The promoters are the ones that make everything happen. There are many ambitious promoters who work extremely hard and take on significant risk to see their curatorial vision come to life. Organizing an event requires major financial commitments, logistical coordination, and major marketing efforts. Ticket Wala’s role is to support our organizers by leveraging our experience, technology and promotional capabilities to ensure they are successful in whatever they’ve set out to achieve.
Boardroom: Finally, do you see value in collaborations with media platforms such as Boardroom Publications?
Rehan Botejue: Absolutely. Conversations with credible publications are always valuable because they help audiences understand the vision behind platforms like Ticket Wala. Media partnerships create awareness and allow us to communicate our story to a wider professional audience, and I hope they can contribute to the broader growth of the events ecosystem in Pakistan.
