HOLLAND, Mich. — Tucked away in Holland, software company Ludus-- a digital ticketing sales platform-- has been making its mark in the tech industry since 2016. The company plans to find a bigger facility for its headquarters and hopes to move as early as this summer to the Grand Rapids area.
“Eventually you realize as you grow, you have to grow with your office space, you have to grow with your employees and you continue to just keep moving up and moving on and finding new spaces and getting better and better as a company,” Ludus president and co-founder Zachary Collins said.
A grant from The Right Place in partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation is assisting Ludus with its relocation. Ludus plans to add 37 new jobs which will offer a $10,000 relocation incentive to attract new talent to their growing company.
“Our ability to adapt is what leads to our success and has led to our success, so we really embrace market changes and what our customers want. We continue innovating our product so we never become a stale or slow bogged-down product over time,” Collins said.
Collins is a familiar face to 13 ON YOUR SIDE. In 2010, we interviewed him about his website ‘Yazzem’ which he sold for $15,000 at just 14 years old. It was the dream and vision Collins had that allowed his company to blossom. Behind every good company are good employees and he says without them, the success Ludus has had wouldn’t be possible.
“Ludus would not be possible without our team, yes it started in my dorm room as a side project with Kevin and I, however we built our team and we've hired some really amazing people to make it operate like a well-oiled machine. Now we work with over 3,000 organizations all thanks to our incredible team,” Collins said.
Ludus works with more than 3,000 organizations and venues across the United States including K-12, colleges and universities, performing arts centers and community theaters. The company has processed more than $50 million in tickets, has filled 3.7 million seats and has handled a whopping 31 million pageviews. As Ludus continues to grow, they hope to attract talent in West Michigan while continuing to grow across the country but said they will never forget to give back and be involved with their community and customers.
“We have something called Community Initiatives built into our company where we give back to our customers locally and nationally. We look for opportunities to support them through grants. Sometimes it's just a pizza party or just a thank you note or a Starbucks card in the mail just showing them that we appreciate them,” Collins said.
Collins looks back on his WZZM interview 14 years ago, when he was 14 years old and says he’s grateful for the support of his family, friends and high school theater teacher Kevin who is a co-founder of Ludus. Collins is excited for Ludus’ future and cannot wait to see his company continue to rise. He encourages anyone with a dream to never give up.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV and on your phone.