Blockchain ticketing platform Aventus bolsters team with industry expert joining as COO.

Aventus, a London-based company using blockchain technology to provide the ticketing industry a fair, secure and transparent means of ticketing events has announced Rob Edwards as their new Chief Operations Officer. Edwards brings a wealth of experience to the company, having worked with ticketing software suppliers, ticketing companies, and live entertainment organisations for over twenty-five years.

“The open source Aventus Protocol offers the ticketing industry an amazing opportunity to enhance security, combat fraud, and improve efficiency” said Rob Edwards. “Blockchain technology and ticketing are a perfect fit and the incredible team behind Aventus who are building a bridge to the blockchain for the ticketing supply-chain through the delivery of tools and blockchain API connectivity make this one of the most exciting opportunities of my career.”

Edwards is no stranger to innovation in the ticketing industry having introduced computerisation, CRM and online ticketing to hundreds of entertainment venues. It’s an accolade that sets him as an ideal match for Aventus, who are bringing the power of blockchain technology to ticketing.

Edwards brings sales, operations and senior leadership experience to Aventus with previous roles including UK Sales Manager for Select Technologies, VP Product and Head of Technology for Tickets.com and European General Manager for Tickets.com managing operating companies in the UK, Netherlands and Germany. In 2005 he became General Manager in the UK and Ireland for AudienceView Ticketing Corporation. Since then Edwards has further strengthened his experience in the ticketing industry, establishing a presence in the UK for Europe’s largest ticketing company CTS EVENTIM in 2009. More recently he has consolidated his experience bringing technological innovation to the industry, heading a digital transformation programme for Ambassador Theatre Group.

Aventus co-founders Alan Vey and Annika Monari commented that “Rob’s vast ticketing knowledge, network and expertise, combined with his experience with and interest in new technologies make him a huge asset to the Aventus leadership team.”

Rob Edwards’ move to Aventus follows last week’s announcement that the team had secured Andrew Ford as CMO, known for his work with startup and enterprise technology brands. Together they join a strong leadership team featuring Andy Grant as CTO (former CTO of Ticketlogic and founder of Glue Works), co-founder and innovator in the field of machine learning-based experimental particle physics Annika Monari, and co-founder and artificial intelligence and blockchain pioneer Alan Vey.

The Aventus Protocol is an open source blockchain system being developed and initiated by the Aventus Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting innovation in the ticketing industry.  Built on the Ethereum network, the Aventus Protocol will be available to any organisation wishing to develop and improve their infrastructure with blockchain technology. The system provides a host of features for event organizers, including adjusting variables such as initial pricing, price caps, and revenue splits from resale. The platform improves ticketing experiences for buyers too. Using the AventCoin (AVT) those on the network can vote on event and ticket seller legitimacy, bringing validity and security to the ticketing industry in a decentralized manner.

In September of last year Aventus successfully sold 6,000,000 AVT, their network’s utility token, in exchange for 60,000 Ether tokens through its token sale – valued at over 40 million pounds in today’s market. The Aventus protocol is scheduled to launch its first version in the coming months.