Thursday, August 23, 2012

Eventup Snags Groupon VP

In a major coup for Los Angeles-based Eventup, the online marketplace for event venues, said today that it has hired former Group VP of Business Development Jayna Cooke to run the firm's Chicago office. Eventup, which is now running in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Miami, said that Cooke will help launch various national and local sales strategies, growth and market planning, in addition to growing the sales team, revenue and overall day to day operations in the Eventup Chicago office. Eventup operates an online marketplace which helps people to book and plan events, and features all kinds of venues which can be booked for parties, retreats, and other events. Eventup is backed by Science Inc., the startup studio and incubator headed by former MySpace CEO Mike Jones, and also has a significant investment from LightBank, the investment fund of Groupon founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. Other investors in Eventup include Crosscut Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, and New World Ventures.