London-based virtual events unicorn Hopin, announced today that it has acquired US-based onsite event solution company, Boomset – it provides event software to improve on-site efficiency and bring ‘excitement’ to events.
Speaking on the development, Johnny Boufarhat, CEO and Founder of Hopin, says, “The events industry has changed forever and event organisers need a seamless solution that includes virtual and onsite technology and services. With the addition of Boomset, we will allow our customers the ability to scale and analyse any type of event by capturing both virtual and in-person audiences and data together. I am extremely proud to welcome the Boomset team to Hopin as well as partner with Boomset’s Founder and CEO Kerem Baran, whose attention to company culture is highly valued at Hopin.”
Boufarhat further adds, “It has always been clear to us that hybrid events are extremely valuable for both organisers and attendees. With our all-in-one platform, as well as more on the horizon for Hopin, we will continue on our mission to help people connect with the communities and conversations they care about whether in-person or online.”
Aim of this acquisition
Amid the pandemic, the hybrid events are expected to double in 2021 according to PCMA. And to support the organisers, it is crucial for them to have the tools they need to be successful. With this acquisition, Hopin will add premier onsite event tools to its platform to enable anyone to plan, produce, and share events whether hybrid, in-person, or virtual.
Besides, Hopin’s new on-site capabilities will also offer a single dashboard to see substantial 360-degree insights all in one platform.
Kerem Baran, CEO and co-founder of Boomset says, “Hopin has been transformational for virtual events and joining the organisation will be powerful for our team and event organisers, particularly for the future of hybrid events. We believe an all-in-one platform, including Boomset’s seamless onsite event solutions, will deliver on Hopin and Boomset’s mutual mission to provide the best experience for our customers while continuing to scale at ‘Hopin speed.’”
With Boomset, Hopin believes it will be a destination for onsite technology and services, including badges, self-service kiosks, and QR code check-in; access to innovative technology solutions like tracking management with RFID/UHF/NFC, and cashless payments; and meaningful data insights that include checkin/out data, session attendance, lead retrieval, and full event demographics.
In addition to onsite services, event organisers also seek out Hopin because the platform allows hosts to leverage StreamYard’s broadcast studio to easily produce professional and reliable live streams.
Boomset – “Create engaging in-person events”
Founded in 2011 by Cem Kozinoglu, Igal Zakuto, and Kerem Baran, Boomset is an event technology solutions provider that claims to simplify event management for in-person and hybrid events.
The company offers solutions from digital entry with on-demand badge printing and facial recognition to session management, access control, attendee tracking, lead retrieval, gamification and more. It aims to offer a seamless web and mobile solution for all types of events. The company currently employees 40 team members to support its clients.
Everything about Hopin
The company was founded in 2019 by Johnny Boufarhat. It is a live virtual events platform where attendees can learn, interact, and connect with people from anywhere in the world. The platform also allows users to create live online events that are interactive and personal whether they are hosting a live training workshop, bringing a company’s remote team together, or launching a full-scale digital conference.
Additionally, Hopin’s platform also hosts virtual events such as large-scale tech events, major international conferences, and even weddings. Attendees can network one-on-one, break out into group sessions, watch keynote presentations, send chat messages and polls, and explore interactive expo areas.
Currently, the company has more than 660 employees in 45 countries since the beginning of 2020 and has grown from a few hundred event creators to more than 100,000 organisations with millions of attendees showing up each month.
Hopin’s recent developments
Since February of last year, Hopin has raised more than $565M in Series A-C funding and the company is now valued at $5.65B (approx €4.69B).
As part of its multi-product strategy, Hopin acqui-hired the mobile app development team from Topi in 2020 and acquired the video streaming company StreamYard, adding StreamYard’s 3.6 million video content creators to its base.
In 2021, Hopin acquired video hosting provider Streamable as well as video technology company jamm. And earlier this month, the company announced that LinkedIn has become an investor via the company’s oversubscribed Series C secondary round. In addition, the two companies are also planning to work together to help event organisers extend the reach of their events. Earlier this month, Hopin linked up with LinkedIn to help event organisers extend the reach of their events.
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