Online Ticket Sales Startup Eventbrite Passes $1 Billion In Total Sales

Eventbrite has become the go-to platform for selling tickets online. And it’s announcing a major milestone to prove it today: It’s sold more than $1 billion tickets in total. For Eventbrite, the milestone also highlights some accelerating growth. It took nearly two years — from January 2009 to December 2010 — to go from $100 million in sales to $400 million. But it only took the next 18 months or so for Eventbrite it to more than double that amount and hit $1 billion of total ticket sales.

Previously Eventbrite had said that it had doubled the number of events and tickets sold on the platform in 2011. Part of its revenue growth comes from Eventbrite leveraging social networks like Twitter and Facebook. In its announcement, Eventbrite noted that on average, organizers receive an additional $2.52 in ticket sales whenever a user shares an event on Facebook.

And part of it comes from a big push toward mobile platforms. That includes the launch of Eventbrite’s “At the Door” iPad app, which lets people pay for events if they show up at the door without having previously paid. Also, it released a credit card reader that works with the app to let ticket sellers collect payments at the door.

Eventbrite’s business is truly international, with events created in more than 170 different countries worldwide. That said, English-speaking countries still rule: The top five countries that it operates in includes the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and Netherlands. Its most popular events are conferences, followed by classes, fundraises, concerts and social events.

Last year, Eventbrite raised a $50 million round of financing led by Tiger Global. Altogether, it’s raised a total of $80 million since being founded in 2006.