Untold draws 500,000+ attendees over four days in one of the top three music festivals in the world. When buying their ticket most concert goers chose to go ticketless and were able to move freely in and out of festival grounds without having to produce their phone or worry about losing a physical ticket. Participation was optional in the groundbreaking pilot which was the brainchild of venture studio CNKT Labs,CEO Deian Markov. Markov who brought Rhuna and Alcatraz AI together to partner in the pilot. The objective was to enhance the entertainment experience by liberating concert goers from the hassle of long security lines.

Rhuna, co-founded by CEO Sveatoslav Vizitiu and CCO Bogdan Radulescu, runs a single platform for payments, ticketing, access control and data. They have been operating Untold for over a decade. Alcatraz, founded by Vince Gaydarzhiev, makes the privacy forward facial authentication technology used by the world’s top tech giants. Markov brought the founders together and helped the teams connect the two products: software that knows who holds a ticket and hardware that authenticates them at the gate.Alcatraz authenticates on the device at the gate: each face is converted into an encrypted template and matched locally, an approach built to comply with GDPR, CCPA and BIPA. The system also detects tailgating in real time, flagging anyone who tries to follow an authenticated guest through the gate.

Option to enroll

Participation in the pilot at Untold 2026 was optional. When attendees arrived at the gate the were given the option to enroll. Those who chose to enroll when buying their ticket were able to roam about in and out of the grounds seamlessly without showing their phones or a physical ticket.

"Untold is where we test what the next generation of live events will look like," said Sveatoslav Vizitiu, CEO and Co-founder of Rhuna. "Running facial entry at a festival of this size gave us a real-world proof point at a scale most pilots never reach, and it shows where access and payments are heading: one identity, from the ticket purchase to the gate to the bar."

"The Alcatraz technology is built for environments where security, speed and privacy all matter," said Vince Gaydarzhiev, Founder and President of Alcatraz. "Untold demonstrated that even at the scale and pace of a major festival, facial authentication can deliver fast, effortless access without compromising privacy.That’s why the world’s top tech companies, airports and nuclear companies use our technology.”

“The gate is the first moment of every festival experience, and it should feel effortless,” said Deian Markov, Founder and CEO of CNKT Labs. “Our vision was simple: what if you didn’t need to show a ticket at all—what if your face was the ticket? By bringing Rhuna and Alcatraz together, we’re turning that idea into reality and creating a more seamless way for people to move through live experiences.”

New opportunities for both companies

The Untold pilot marks the next step for both companies. Rhuna is now bringing its platform to the U.S. market, and Alcatraz is extending its facial authentication beyond offices, airports and stadiums into festivals and live events. The partners are continuing to develop new technology for event access and payments together. The biometric entry system for festivals remains in research and development, and detailed performance data will be shared as the partners expand testing. According to the companies, further announcements are expected in the coming months.