Delaware-based
virtual event platform startup Airmeet on Feb. 8 raised US$35 million in Series
B funding just six months since its Series A round. The latest came from new
investors Prosus Ventures, Sistema Asia Fund, RingCentral Ventures, KDDI Open
Innovation Fund, DG Daiwa Ventures and Nexxus Global. Also participating were existing
investors Sequoia Capital India and Accel India.
Airmeet
was founded by India-based entrepreneur and CEO Lalit Mangal in 2019. Since
receiving $15 million last year, $12 of it in Series A funding led by Sequoia
Capital India, the company claimed it grew 30 percent month over month. According
to a press release, Airmeet has enabled more than 120,000 event organizers to
stream 150 million minutes of video airtime globally.
On the
same day, Los Angeles-based event management platform Swoogo secured $20 million
in Series B investment led by Bain Capital. CEO Christopher Sykes, who acquired
a majority stake in the company in March 2020 with backing from Eagle Rock
Capital, has nearly tripled recurring revenues since the start of the pandemic,
according to a press release. As part of the transaction, Bain Capital VP David
Healey will join the Swoogo board.
The Money’s
on Virtual Events
Airmeet and
Swoogo aren't the only virtual event platform getting fast funding. Two San
Francisco-based companies, Hubilo and Zuddl, have seen similar rapid expansion.
Hubilo
raised $125 million in Series B funding last October, just seven months after
it had completed Series A. Meanwhile, a 2020 startup, Zuddl raised $13.35
million in a Series A round just last month.
Each solution playing in the
sandbox—including Airmeet and Swoogo—claims major global clients. Zuddl says it
has scaled 30 times since May 2020, Airmeet says its scale number is 24 times
since October 2021.
Swoogo and Hubilo both started in
2015, a date that qualifies them as “Boomers” in tech startup years. That
relative staying power may be attractive to investors, but the fresh
functionalities that come after big funding will be critical to the success of
all these platforms in this fast-moving segment.