The virtual event industry is shining bright! The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the cancellation of numerous events, turning most of them into a virtual event online. As a result, the virtual event platform is witnessing higher demand as most companies have adopted the work from home (WFH) policy.
While organising a virtual event may sound easy, but it’s no cakewalk. You need to set a lot of things right to make your event successful. However, there are dozens of platforms in this space offering distinct technologies and services.
Simplifies event management process
HeySummit is one such startup that claims to take the heavy lifting out of creating, managing, running, and analysing online events, summits, conferences, or talk-series. It provides management and marketing tools that are required for multi-talk virtual events, including landing pages, speaker management, and ticketing, and then integrates with the leading webinar, networking, and video hosting platforms.
HeySummit raised €847K funding
Recently, the Scottish startup raised $1M (approx €847K) funding led by Techstart Ventures with the participation of Active Capital and Ankur Nagpal (CEO and founder of Teachable). The company intends to use the funding to accelerate the growth of its platform.
The company says it has served nearly 2 million attendees and hosted over 4,500 events on the platform within the past year. The app can be integrated into other video hosting platforms including Zoom, Remo, Livewebinar, GoToWebinar, YouTube Live, RunTheWorld, Icebreaker, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, among others. The hosts can opt for the pre-recorded or live programming, or even the hybrid of both.
Main focus on passion economy
As per the company, many organisations including the Red Cross, the UN, Udemy, and others used the platform, but the startup’s main focus remains the passion economy like painters, teachers, and others.
Founder Benjamin Dell started HeySummit as a side-project to solve his problem as a solopreneur. “I wanted to reach a wide audience, increase my thought leadership, and build my community, but couldn’t find anything that could do the things that took the most time – the marketing, organising, and management of the summit.”
“At HeySummit, we see that innovation first-hand. We’ve seen the yoga teachers who have pivoted to online classes. We’ve seen the museums who have thought up new ways to earn an income virtually. We’ve seen large conferences like SaaStr quickly adapt to a new virtual environment. We’ve also seen the joy and success that can come from sharing your passion, teaching others, and creating communities,” he adds.
Main image credits: fizkes/Shutterstock