Zaran Vachha's Triangle Group Wants to Turn Asia's Patchwork Touring Scene Into One Circuit

A Promoter Who Learned the Hard Way

Zaran Vachha once tried to put on an MF DOOM concert in London. On the way to the gig, the rapper got out of the car to take a piss and never came back. There was a riot in the venue.

Vachha's career started with an internship at HKclubbing while he was still in high school. His first booking ever was Justice, found through the now-defunct Hype Machine. He booked Ed Sheeran for live sessions before he became who he is today, and did the same for Jamie xx, building touring circuits through London and Hong Kong before working across Asia at large with a client list that also included Pharrell Williams.

The Pitch: Stop Treating Asia as One Stop

That promoter's instinct now sits at the centre of Triangle Group, the Singapore-headquartered live entertainment platform Vachha built with co-founder Greg Hargrave. The company has teams in Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia and operates across 18 cities in nine countries, through brands including Collective Minds, Curious and the drum and bass festival Touch Bass.

Its goal is to tackle one of the longstanding challenges of touring Asia-Pacific: connecting individual markets into viable regional touring routes.

The Money Behind the Pitch

Triangle has just closed a US$15 million raise, said to be the largest institutional investment in Asia's experience economy by a homegrown operator. The round comprises a $10 million equity seed led by DSG Consumer Partners and $5 million in venture debt from Genesis Alternative Ventures.

The raise came with a hire: former Live Nation Asia Pacific president Roger Field, who spent a year advising and investing in Triangle before joining full time as Executive Director and Operating Partner.

What Collective Minds Has Already Pulled Off

Under the Collective Minds banner, Triangle has worked on tours and events for Fred again.., Jamie xx, Charlotte de Witte, Black Coffee, Kamasi Washington, Eric Prydz and Wolf Alice, alongside festival properties like A State of Trance and S2O. Loopliner has covered S2O before. The wider touring roster has also included HONNE, Hanumankind, Gilles Peterson, James Hype and Boris Brejcha.

Why Now

Vachha, who holds the title Managing Director of Culture and Creative at Triangle, put the strategy in his own words: "We build around the specific artist in terms of who their audience is, which markets are ready, when to step up and when to hold. We're not booking a one-off; we're routing a region."

The bet is on the region's growth curve. Triangle points to Asia-Pacific's live entertainment market reaching $75 billion by 2033, with the region accounting for almost two-thirds of the world's middle class by 2035.

What's already booked under Triangle's brands: the sold-out Tomorrowland CORE in Melbourne this November, Rampage dates across Australia and New Zealand, and Otherworld Festival in Manila.

Cover photo: Zaran Vachha, courtesy of Triangle Group, via Mixmag Asia.