Local events app YPlan has announced the launch of three new features in the wake of its recent $24m (£15.75m) Series B funding round, aiming to reach new users and expand its functionality.

The new features were rolled out to users in mid-December, in time for the final wave of Christmas parties and New Years Eve, the apps busiest night of the year. All features had been subject to extensive A/B testing with sample audiences before hand, and were developed by the newly expanded developer and product teams.

The Invite feature enables users to share events with contacts, either through their phonebook or Facebook, letting friends accept or decline the request and then allowing the sender to book tickets for themselves or the group as a whole, and send tickets on to those who are attending.

Also updated are the apps event Feedback feature, which enables users to rate their experience at a venue, with comments and ratings displayed for other users to see, and the Preferences feature, which lets user fine-tine which events appear in their feed in the future.

“Having spent several months in the making, these new features will significantly augment our existing product offering,” said Viktoras Jucikas, co-founder and CTO of YPlan. “Whether youre heading to a pop-up restaurant, theatre show, secret gig or night screening, a night out is an inherently social activity. Over 75 per cent of our customers purchase two or more tickets at a time so weve developed new mechanisms which make those kind of group bookings even easier.”