.png)
Every great company has an origin story, one with twists and turns and full of changes. Ours is no different. Yet, as Hometown has evolved, one thing has remained constant: Our mission. From day one, the vision was clear: create better in-person experiences by eliminating unnecessary fees and keeping more money where it belongs — within your community. That driving force has guided every decision, every late night, and every new idea since the very beginning.
The Early Start as Easy Peasy Ticketing
It started in Columbus, Ohio. Not in a boardroom, but in small venues and local theaters. Co-founders Wesley and Nate created Easy Peasy Ticketing to solve a frustrating problem they experienced firsthand. Wesley recalled a time when he’d tried to buy a $15 ticket for a concert, only to be hit with a $13 service fee. As broke college students, the added cost was enough to make them skip the event altogether. That moment revealed a deeper issue: event technology wasn’t serving the people it was meant to support, and in many cases, it was actively discouraging communities from coming together.
That experience planted the seed for what would become Hometown. What began as a simple solution to fix broken ticketing systems quickly evolved into something more. Over time, that early frustration became the foundation for a mission-driven platform now serving over 17,000 schools across the country. Today, Hometown offers a full suite of purpose-built tools, including digital ticketing, fee-free fundraising, and community-driven websites, all designed to help schools streamline operations, strengthen connections, and deliver powerful in-person experiences.
A few months after that concert, Wesley and Nate officially launched the business. As momentum grew, they made their first hire: Oscar Rubio, a talented developer Wesley had worked with at Ohio State. Fresh out of college, Oscar took a leap of faith by joining a three-person start-up. It was a bold move that paid off. Today, Oscar is still with Hometown, now serving as a Lead Software Engineer and continuing to help shape the platform’s future.
“I wanted to be able to look at the product in the wild and say that I played a major role in it. Everyone wants to love the work they are doing, and helping start Hometown was one of the best experiences I have ever had,” said Rubio.
A Pivotal Shift Toward Schools
A turning point for the company came when the team was introduced to a local high school district, Pickerington Schools. They were looking for a better ticketing solution, and while Hometown (still Easy Peasy at the time) hadn’t set out to serve schools, the timing was perfect.
Pickerington had been asking its previous ticketing provider for specific features, like seat maps, for years without success. When the school gave Wes and his team a challenge — “if you can have this built by next week, we’ll go with you” — the founders pulled an all-nighter and delivered.
At that moment, standing in the parking lot after the demo, Nate and Wesley knew: this was the start of something big. Schools were underserved. They needed solutions that were professional, affordable, and built with their unique challenges in mind. And just like that, Hometown had found its home in the K-12 and university space.
Learning and Growing Alongside Schools
Those early days were full of hustle, grit, and learning. Pickerington became not just a customer, but a partner in shaping what the platform could be. Helping highlight the unique needs and challenges schools and districts face.
“At Pickerington Central, we really enjoy working with Hometown as our online ticketing system. The entire operation is first class, and the support that your reps give us is tremendous,” said Lisa Morelli, Athletic Director at Pinkerington Central High School. “Hometown also has given us game day event help when we were 30 minutes from opening our gates at a large varsity football game.”
Over time, Easy Peasy rebranded as Hometown. And when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person events, the need for digital-first solutions accelerated overnight. Schools required contactless ticketing, cashless payments, mobile scanning, and capacity management.
As the company continued to grow, Hometown began investing in its future. In 2022, a funding round with Nexa Equity fueled expansion, technology upgrades, and acquisitions that broadened the platform’s capabilities.
More Than Tickets: Helping Schools Do More With Less
From the beginning, the mission was always about more than selling tickets. It was about creating impactful in-person community events. As Hometown listened to athletic directors and administrators, it became clear that schools needed more support. Ticketing was only one part of the puzzle.
Fundraising platforms were taking as much as 20 percent of donations, eating away at the dollars students and programs desperately needed. At the same time, their athletic and activity websites were crashing, stranding them and their communities during critical times of communication.
Hometown knew it could help.
The merger with Schoolfundr in 2024 was a key step forward in the company’s history. Schoolfundr brought expertise in fundraising and a vision that aligned closely with Hometown’s: helping schools raise more money while keeping every possible dollar in their communities.
Since the merger, Hometown has also launched Engage, a free website solution for athletic and activity programs. With an Engage website, schools gained an easy way to promote schedules, rosters, event streams, and updates from one central hub, strengthening community engagement around their in-person events.
Every part of the Hometown Platform — ticketing, fundraising, websites — serves one goal: helping schools bring people together without unnecessary cost or complexity.
.jpg)
Today and The Future of Hometown
Our very first product was about eliminating barriers to community engagement and impact, and that passion continues to drive us today. From that first demo at Pickerington to now serving over 17,000 schools nationwide, the spirit that defined Hometown’s beginnings still drives the company today. What started as a solution for digital ticketing has evolved into a full suite of digital solutions designed to help schools simplify operations, improve operations, and keep resources where they matter most.
And while so much has changed, the scale, the reach, the technology – some things haven’t. Pickerington, that very first school customer, is still with us today. Oscar, the first hire, is still writing code. And the same scrappy spirit that fueled those early late-night builds is alive and well in the team today.
Because at the end of the day, Hometown was never just about tickets. It was, and always will be, about people, students, educators, families, and communities coming together to support what they love. And that’s a story worth telling.
“As we’ve grown from one moment of frustration to a national platform serving 17,000+ schools, our mission hasn’t changed, said Dennis Levene, CEO of Hometown. “If anything, it’s become clearer: we’re here to support the people who make in-person school events possible. That will always be our mission.”
Whether you are planning game day, launching a fundraiser, or building a website to support your community, Hometown is here to support you.
