Industry gatherings, whether for devoted comic book enthusiasts, iOS developers, or insurance professionals, have long served as a crucial means for companies to connect with their target audiences. However, the landscape of these conferences has undergone a substantial transformation this year. The global Covid-19 pandemic has significantly restricted travel and large public assemblies, severely impacting the event industry, which previously generated over $1 trillion in annual revenue.

Today brings news of substantial funding for a company offering a potential path forward. Bizzabo, a platform designed to facilitate the planning and execution of both virtual and in-person conferences – encompassing everything from initial concept development and sponsorship management to attendee interaction and event delivery – has secured $138 million in new investment.

According to CEO Eran Ben-Shushan (who established the company alongside Alon Alroy and Boaz Katz), the new capital will be utilized to accelerate the company’s expansion, following a period of significant growth this year.

Bizzabo serves a diverse clientele of large corporations and event organizers, including companies such as Uber, Gainsight, Github, WeWork, Accenture, and, notably, TechCrunch. This year, the company has experienced a 100% increase in revenue, a 65% rise in the number of events hosted on its platform, and a remarkable 500% surge in event registrations, with overall platform usage increasing by a factor of 150.

“With the likely availability of a vaccine and the anticipated rise of hybrid events, we foresee continued substantial growth,” Ben-Shushan stated. “Bizzabo has consistently led the industry, demonstrating rapid expansion both before and during the shift to virtual events. We are eager to maintain our market leadership by investing in product development, technology, and user experience, empowering organizations to harness the potential of hybrid experiences.”

This investment will support the development of enhanced technology to seamlessly integrate virtual and in-person components, as well as the tripling of the company’s engineering, product, and experience teams, with the addition of two new offices in Europe to complement its existing locations in Tel Aviv and New York.

This Series E funding round is spearheaded by Insight Partners, a venture capital firm recognized for its significant growth investments, with participation from existing investors Viola Growth, Next47, and OurCrowd. Viola Growth previously led Bizzabo’s $27 million Series D round in April 2019.

Ben-Shushan revealed that the company’s valuation has increased by 400% since the Series D round, although he did not disclose the specific current valuation. To date, Bizzabo has raised a total of $195 million. For comparison, Hopin, another event management platform, recently secured $125 million at a valuation exceeding $2 billion.

Founded in 2011, Bizzabo initially positioned itself as the “Salesforce for events.” By leveraging cloud-based architecture and integrating with various productivity and communication tools commonly used by event organizers, the platform aimed to unify these elements and provide organizers with a means to extend engagement with attendees through applications and online services. This included registration software, attendee payment processing, session-specific chatrooms, improved exhibitor-visitor connections, and networking opportunities both during and after events.

However, the situation dramatically changed this year as numerous in-person conferences were cancelled. Initially, many events simply ceased to exist, but as the year progressed, organizers began exploring virtual alternatives.

“The virtual conference market was virtually nonexistent” prior to 2020, Ben-Shushan explained. “Before Covid-19, less than 2% of all events were virtual. March 2020 marked the beginning of the transition to virtual events as live gatherings became impractical in most regions.”

This shift coincided with a significant increase in video communication, driven by platforms like Zoom, Google, and Microsoft, which enabled individuals to connect visually over the internet. While videoconferencing technology existed previously, it often involved expensive hardware and software primarily used by large corporations. The key innovation was utilizing faster internet speeds, improved computer hardware, and cloud technology to make videoconferencing accessible to everyone.

And, with the onset of the pandemic, widespread adoption followed.

Event organizers quickly adapted, with larger conferences that previously offered streams of keynotes and select sessions to remote attendees now considering fully online experiences. This presented new challenges for organizers and participants alike. How could networking be effectively replicated without informal gatherings? How could the energy of a live audience be recreated? And how could attendees be persuaded to pay conference fees for an experience accessed solely through their home computers, potentially while still in pajamas?

Addressing these questions proved challenging, but Bizzabo found itself well-positioned to meet the sudden demand for tools that facilitated these communication solutions, and to rapidly develop features to address unmet needs. The company did not require a complete platform overhaul; it simply expanded its existing capabilities.

For instance, while streaming wasn’t previously a core focus, it has now become integral to the platform through a partnership with Kaltura, a live streaming technology provider.

Interestingly, much of the past year in the events industry has been focused on replicating cancelled events, seeking a like-for-like replacement. Even when a perfect substitute hasn’t been found, the industry has uncovered innovative ways to foster connections between people. Nevertheless, Bizzabo does not believe that live events are obsolete.

“Our data indicates that while virtual events offer advantages such as broader reach and lower production costs, both organizers and attendees are eager to return to in-person events,” Ben-Shushan stated. “2021 will usher in a new era for the event industry – the hybrid era, which seamlessly integrates remote and live experiences.”

Hybrid events are expected to dominate the future, although the ultimate scale of this market remains uncertain. Some events may not return in their original form.

“COVID-19 has fundamentally reshaped the professional events landscape,” said Matt Gatto, a Managing Director at Insight Partners, who will be joining the Bizzabo board of directors. “Bizzabo’s impressive growth trajectory began before the pandemic and accelerated during it, as they launched the industry’s first end-to-end event technology solution. Their expertise in both in-person and virtual events, combined with their strong execution capabilities, positions them to lead this rapidly evolving space. We are excited to partner with their leadership team and support them in this next phase of growth.”