A new online booking platform dubbed the ‘Airbnb for venues and events services’ has been launched to allow those organising a party or event to easily find and book a venue, catering and entertainment services all from one app.

Customers can log into Venyu and add their requirements for a venue or events service including dates, budget, location etc, and the Venyu app will bring up available venues and event services such as catering, entertainment and decoration suppliers in one place, so the customer can compare what is on offer.

Hospitality and event businesses can also benefit by having an app where they can advertise free dates for their services or venues and then keep up to date and manage all bookings through the Venyu app too. The app will also allow venue owners and events service providers to optimise their revenue, connect with complimentary businesses in their industry and streamline their day to day operations, including the booking and organisation process.

It aims to be the one stop shop for both hospitality venues and businesses, as well as anyone who is organising an event.

The brainchild of Cardiff born Richard Lee, 22, Venyu has been likened to Airbnb for venues and events services. Having self-financed the venture using funds from an inheritance to develop the app, Richard already has prestigious venues, like The Tramshed and Cardiff Golf Club, registered, as well as meeting rooms in places like BizSpace and Cwrt.  The event services listed on Venyu include musicians Kaysha Louvain and the Archives, as well as caterers such as Foxy’s Deli.

Within the first month of the app going live hundreds of people have downloaded it, including party organisers from FTSE250 companies as well as people from large professional services firms.

Richard said of the venture:

“Over the years I have seen friends and family spend hours on the phone calling different venues, sending emails to suppliers and browsing the web for relevant results to try and find availability for certain dates or a certain number of people. I never understood why there wasn’t an app available where people could search for their party requirements with various venues and services in their locality at once. That’s when I struck on the idea to create my own, and started making plans for Venyu.

“We had planned to launch it last year but the pandemic put paid to that idea and so we have worked even harder during that time to develop Venyu into a more sophisticated platform which will enable venues and events services to optimise their revenue, connect with complimentary businesses in their industry and streamline their day to day operations, including the booking and organisation process. So, it’s an app that not only helps party planners, but also hospitality venues and event services too.”

Richard left school at 18 and joined Deloitte as an international corporate auditor, but after a year or so at the professional services company he quickly realised that finance was not the career for him and used his inheritance to start developing Venyu.

He has partnered with fellow Cardiff app developers Big Lemon on the venture, which is currently live in the Apple app store and Google Play store.

Richard explained:

“I didn’t want to get any funding for the project as I wanted it to be my own and I wanted the risk to be entirely my own too, and so I’ve been working with the team at Big Lemon on developing Venyu and also speaking to hospitality venues around Wales to get them on board initially, before we branch out to other areas of the UK.

“The app and overall concept has been welcomed with open arms by both event venues and companies, as well as customers who organise multiple events throughout the year. They find the ease of searching in one place for venues and services either by a specific date or number of attendees so much easier than having to ring around, and many have found new venues and services they didn’t even know existed – so that has been great to hear.”

“The sky is the limit with the possibilities of Venyu as a booking and management platform, it can be used by so many businesses and we can’t wait to welcome them to the app,”

Richard is keen to add more venues and more services to the platform and is inviting them to get in touch with him at [email protected] to learn more.

For more information and to download the app, search for Venyu in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.