Self-service meeting sourcing and planning platform Groupize has snapped up startup meetings marketplace The Vendry, adding more than 70,000 venues and independent vendors to the Groupize's existing global marketplace of 190,000 hotels.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Vendry raised $6.5 million in 2021 to build a marketplace-based venue search and request-for-proposals platform, which it debuted the following year along with along with a meeting planner networking group. The networking group provides feedback on utilized venues, creating a feedback and recommendation loop. Last October, the startup enhanced the offering with a Chrome browser extension that pops up Vendry information about venues when users simply are searching online. It upgraded the in-app search engine last October to provide more granular search guidance.
According to Groupize, 150,000 meeting planners currently use The Vendry platform globally every month. The meetings management platform will operate The Vendry market on its own as The Vendry by Groupize, but in the coming months will integrate The Vendry offerings into its own marketplace. The press release also indicated that The Vendry’s artificial intelligence-powered search will become a part of the Groupize experience once the integration is completed later this year.
The Vendry founder Daphne Hoppenot will join the Groupize executive team as a strategic advisor. Alisa de Gaspe Beaubien will remain CEO.
“We’re excited to bring this innovative technology into the Groupize platform, accelerating our mission to transform the way meetings and events are managed,” said de Gaspe Beaubien. “This acquisition accelerates our timelines on delivering a global solution to plan and manage exceptional meeting and event experiences.”