I attempted planning a BBQ on Piggyvest-backed PartyVest

Let me be upfront, I’m not an occasion particular person. I actively keep away from internet hosting (and typically, attending) something, ever. Why? My stress tolerance is low, and the chaos of planning occasions simply sends me working. You’d have one group chat for communication, a separate notes app for the finances (or, in my case, a bit of paper that may positively vanish), and scrolling by way of debit/credit score alerts on my financial institution app to know who paid for what. Did I point out frantically calling distributors? It’s a large number. 

As a curious particular person, after I heard about PartyVest, an app that claims to convey all these items into one place, I made a decision to see if it labored by internet hosting a small barbecue for 5 pals. Spoiler alert: the barbecue didn’t find yourself occurring, however plotting it out on the app was its personal form of journey. It was virtually… enjoyable.

Constructing a ‘faaji’ (enjoyment) ecosystem

PartyVest launched in September 2025 as a response to what Basic Supervisor Mobola Awe calls the Nigerian fact: that we rejoice every little thing, however planning something looks like a battle. PartyVest started with a dialog between Awe, who had been working in occasions for over a decade, and an engineer in regards to the infinite instruments she needed to sustain with whereas planning occasions. 

The primary model of the product was designed to deal with planning, that includes budgeting, job monitoring, vendor monitoring, and collaboration instruments. However because the staff examined the product, it grew to become clear that Nigerians attend occasions, give presents at them, promote them, and share recollections from them, along with planning them. So, the product shifted into one thing broader. 

“We wished a whole ecosystem that caters to planners, attendees, individuals who need to give presents, and individuals who need to obtain presents,” Awe mentioned.

The app is designed to be a central hub for planning, discovering, attending, and remembering occasions inside or exterior a consumer’s community. The corporate is led by Awe, together with an govt staff that features Francisca Edoki, Edidiong Uwah, and Aisha Musa-Bawa. 

It’s backed by PiggyVest, the Nigerian on-line financial savings & funding platform, and Zrosk, an alternate funding administration firm, in a partnership that gives deep infrastructure for the app. PiggyVest Enterprise powers the monetary layer of the app, which incorporates the pockets system, vendor payouts, occasion account numbers, and inflows.

Into the PartyVerse: Planning “Yemi & Frnds Sunday BBQ”

Once I began planning this occasion, I wished to see how far I may get with out feeling overwhelmed. So, I tapped ‘Create Occasion’ and was instantly prompted to outline the vibe of the occasion. Since this was simply an in-house hangout, I chosen ‘Social and Group Gathering’ from the listing. I named my occasion and set its timeline. I received a shareable occasion URL I may ship to folks and a slot to enter the occasion description. As a substitute of typing out a paragraph, I let the built-in AI generate the outline for me. It was a small element, however for somebody who was avoiding stress, it was an amazing begin.

Subsequent, the app requested for fundamental logistics such because the anticipated variety of company (I enter 5 folks), an estimated finances (I settled on  ₦50,000 [$34.53]), and whether or not I wished additional options like a wishlist that tells attendees what I would love them to convey, a finances tracker to handle bills, and vendor administration. Now, I didn’t strictly have to onboard distributors as a result of it was all going to be DIY barbecue, however I enabled the characteristic anyway. 

The app means that you can uncover distributors for meals, drinks, or leases, which is an improve from sending Instagram DMs, questioning if the seller is reliable. Awe defined that the seller market is curated, noting that the PartyVest staff intentionally selects verified distributors and suppliers. For the aesthetics, I wanted a canopy picture and a theme. You’ll be able to add your personal, however I browsed the in-app library, chosen a pre-made poster that completely match the temper, after which the occasion dashboard appeared. 

The planner’s dashboard is the place PartyVest begins to really feel like a real planning device. On the prime is a countdown clock displaying how lengthy I’ve earlier than my occasion begins. Under that’s my occasion pockets, which allowed me to generate a singular checking account quantity for my barbecue. “That account quantity is a Pocket App account quantity that PiggyVest Enterprise APIs supplies, ” Joshua Chibueze, co-founder of PiggyVest, famous, including that the engine powering transfers to distributors is Pocket.

What’s attention-grabbing is that planners can earn each day curiosity on the cash that sits in there. This successfully turns the planning interval into an funding alternative, making certain that the cash gathered for the occasion is definitely rising till the second it must be spent.

The planner’s dashboard additionally permits me to handle my finances successfully. I enter my estimated prices for rooster, juice, fries, and drinks, and the app visualised it for me (who doesn’t love a superb pie chart?). To maintain my planning organised, I used the duty monitoring characteristic, which works like a shared to-do listing the place every particular person could be added as a planner and assigned particular duties. I additionally pinned the occasion location, which integrates with Google Maps, in order that company can navigate on to the venue with out the standard back-and-forth of location sharing. 

Visitor administration occurs on the identical dashboard. You’ll be able to see individuals who have RSVP’d or those that have been invited. You may as well rescind visitor invites (it’s your occasion, you are able to do what you need). You’ll be able to ship broadcast messages to everybody, together with planners and company, with reminders, updates, gown codes, and extra. Whereas all of this displays the host expertise, the visitor facet is far less complicated. A visitor will be capable to see the occasion poster, location, date, time, occasion description, and the RSVP button. 

There’s additionally a Reminiscences part the place company can add images and movies from the occasion, just like a shared gallery that doesn’t disappear after 24 hours, in contrast to Instagram tales. The gifting characteristic isn’t reside on the app but, however Awe gave a powerful trace of what it could appear like. She mentioned the characteristic will embody wishlists that may be shared, curated reward bundles, and the power for pals to contribute cash towards larger presents. 

Apart from utilizing the app to plan your personal occasion, PartyVest has an discover web page that lets customers browse public occasions occurring round. Customers can purchase tickets and save occasions they’re concerned with.

Ultimately, not a visitor confirmed up for ‘Yemi & Frnds Sunday BBQ,’ however I had a full image of what organising an occasion inside PartyVest looks like. The app efficiently mixed the fragmented mess of occasion planning, from dealing with cash and company, right into a cohesive movement. It changed the psychological gymnastics of monitoring financial institution alerts, WhatsApp messages, and disappearing to-do listing papers with a dashboard that felt manageable. 

PartyVest has bold plans to increase its infrastructure. Aisha Musa-Bawa, VP of Rental Operations, mentioned the platform is actively constructing options for short-lets and car leases to unravel the barrier to stress-free occasions. Awe additionally hinted at future strikes into bodily infrastructure, noting that the corporate goals to deal with venue shortages by probably constructing occasion areas down the road. 

There’s nonetheless room for progress as extra options roll out and the seller ecosystem expands, however the app looks like one thing constructed for the best way Nigerians occasion. Will I all of the sudden begin internet hosting occasions each month? Most likely not, however I now perceive why PartyVest exists.