With work from home the new norm, the need for reliable video conferencing apps rose dramatically last year. Many established and new players such as Zoom, Google, Facebook and others entered the video conferencing domain. While online meetings were taken care of, organisations also need a way to host their physical events online. Helping organisations in this aspect is the startup Hopin, which offers an all-in-one live virtual events platform. The company has now acquired StreamYard, a live video streaming studio.
Adding new features
Hopin acquired StreamYard for a notable €203.82M, which will be paid for in cash and stock. With this acquisition, Hopin will enable its clients to produce “professional-quality” video streaming experiences. It will also eventually integrate StreamYard’s tech into its platform; however, for now, StreamYard will continue to also offer its live streaming studio tools to independent content creators.
“When I founded Hopin, I wanted to replicate all the best aspects of physical events — from one-on-one networking to exploring an expo — and more. As Hopin became the go-to virtual venue for event organisers, the next product to add was professional-quality video production, so I’ve long had my eye on the advanced studio tools that StreamYard provides,” says Johnny Boufarhat, founder and CEO of Hopin. “This acquisition fits in with our goal to build the best products that help people connect and communicate better through engaging online experiences.”
Offering a complete virtual experience
Hopin offers a platform for hosting complete online live virtual events, which helps companies create live virtual and hybrid events that are touted to be interactive and immersive. Via the company’s platform, attendees can learn, interact, and connect with people from anywhere in the world. It can be used to host a live online training workshop, remote team gathering, and more.
What, according to the company, separates it from the competition are the features unique to its platforms. When one creates an event on the platform, up to hundreds of thousands of people can attend it and network one-on-one. Additionally, it allows for attendees to break out into group sessions, send chat messages and polls, watch keynote presentations, and explore interactive expo areas.
The platform also hosts a virtual backstage for speakers and offers plenty of sponsorship opportunities. Based out of London and founded in 2019, the company has employees in 38 countries.
‘Hopin’g for an impressive success story
According to the company, “it continues to enjoy rapid growth and soaring demand since its launch in February 2020. It has scaled from 5,000 registered users and 1,800 organisations hosting events on the Hopin platform to more than 5 million users and over 100,000 organisations hosting events. Last year alone, the remote-first company grew from eight employees to nearly 300 across 38 countries.”
Last year, in November, the London-based startup raised $125M (approx €106.1M) in its Series B round of funding led by IVP and Tiger Global and joined by Coatue and DFJ Growth, along with Hopin’s returning investors Accel, Northzone, Salesforce Ventures, and Seedcamp. According to Reuters, the company’s valuation has surged to a whopping $2B (nearly €1.7B), up from $42m less than a year ago, making it a double unicorn. It has raised over $170M (nearly ) to date.
“Hopin is one of our most astounding growth stories; the team’s Series B in November was a momentous milestone in every respect, including for the fast-changing virtual events industry,” says Sonali De Rycker, partner at Accel. “And they’ve now acquired two companies—first Topi, and now StreamYard. To pull this off in the first year of operation is unprecedented. The combination with StreamYard is incredibly powerful and will further fuel Hopin’s trajectory as it charts the future of online experiences.”
About StreamYard
Hopin’s acquisition, StreamYard, offers a live video streaming studio that allows content creators to produce professional-quality streaming experiences. The company’s solution can help one create graphically-rich branded experiences, engage with viewers, host multiple guests at once, and simulcast to multiple live streaming platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitch. The company was founded back in 2018 by Geige Vandentop and Dan Briggs, and is based out of Tualatin, Oregon.
According to a press release, “StreamYard will soon replace the Hopin Studio and power all Hopin Stages, with native integration expected in H1 2021. Hopin aims to accelerate StreamYard’s innovative product development, sales and marketing, and grow StreamYard’s enterprise customer base.”
“Vandentop and Briggs will continue to oversee the StreamYard team of 19 employees while joining Hopin to assist Boufarhat in building out the company’s overall vision as a one-stop-shop for the best video broadcasting services and virtual event experiences.”
