Pools (fka Withfriends)

Active

Pools is a memberships platform for event organizers

Winter 2019Founded 20172 peopleNew York, NY, USA

pools.events ↗See on the Idea Map Consumer momentum

About

Pools makes it easy for art, music, and other cultural communities to build memberships around their events. Inspired by the same methodology that museums have used to grow support, the platform leverages the checkout of tickets sales to upsell attendees into a membership with automated discounts, advance access, or members-only benefits.

From their website

as of Jun 7, 2026pools.events ↗

MarketplaceSubscription

Pools is a memberships platform aimed at event organizers, built by people in the art, music, and activism communities. It presents a way to explore events and join as members or supporters through annual memberships and contributions. The platform showcases organized campaigns and local events across multiple locations, enabling organizers to sponsor and manage memberships.

Pools Discovery aggregates events and organizer campaigns across locations, allowing users to explore events, login, add events, and join memberships. It displays campaigns with membership and contribution options, highlighting annualized memberships and tiered contribution goals for each organizer. Users can become members to support campaigns, with funds allocated toward event-related needs and sponsorships.

Who it’s for: Event organizers in art, music, activism, and community spaces; potential members and sponsors looking to support or sponsor local events.

Features

Explore events by location and date
Campaigns with membership and contribution options
Annualized memberships for organizers and supporters
Sponsor and support event campaigns
Add and manage events
Login access for organizers and attendees

Active fundraising campaigns and multiple organizer partnerships; indicates traction through listed membership contributions and goals

Founders · 1

Joe AhearnFounder

Dedicated to building creative, diverse, and sustainable communities. Started off organizing underground music spaces in New York, rose in the international arts community. Watched a lot of inspiring and historic projects and small businesses close in NY despite having record community support. Founded Withfriends to try and solve the obstacles behind running the independent art, music, and activist spaces that make cities special.

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