Virtual events platform Airmeet lands $35M

Delaware-based Airmeet is offering a dedicated platform to help enterprises make their big events truly virtual and interactive.

Back in 2020, when social distancing had just become a norm, platforms like Google Meet did a great job at handling group meetings. The solutions saw a significant surge in demand, but they could not serve as a replacement for enterprises’ big-budget brick-and-mortar events hosting hundreds of thousands of guests. These organizations largely had to switch to streaming services like YouTube, which lacked many elements of a physical event. But, luckily enough, some companies were quick to find the workarounds they needed. This included Airmeet.

Airmeet virtual events platform

Founded just a few months before the pandemic, Airmeet’s engagement platform replicates major aspects of a physical event. It allows enterprises not only the ability to connect with numerous customers, prospects, and community members at once, but also lets them access to features such as backstage, engagement booths, participant to participant speed networking, sponsor branding, and event analytics.

“Airmeet can scale up to 100,000 participants, support multi-format events such as webinars, hybrid conferences, trade shows, and workshops, and are building an all-around engagement suite,” Lalit Mangal, cofounder of the company, told Venturebeat. At the core, the company says, there are two types of spaces that can be hosted on the platform — social webinars for businesses, marketers & community builders and conferences for event organizers, agencies, and associations. 

During the last year alone, Airmeet saw tremendous organic growth, enabling more than 120,000 event organizers to stream 150 million minutes of video airtime globally. The customers signing up for the product include Flipkart, Fifth Element Group, BMF Media, Unifrog Education, NPower Inc, University College London, Rotman School of Management, Zircon (Shell Oil), Viacom CBS, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and Minnesota State University. 

At present, the platform continues to witness 30% month-on-month growth.

Competitors

While Airmeet’s offering fills a major gap for enterprises, it is not the only player vying to lead the virtual events space. Just when the company’s platform launched, two more event players came to the scene — Hopin — which went on to raise $1 billion in funding — and Run the World. In addition to this, there are also some more prominent players like Zoom, which has its own virtual event offering, and Hubilo, a five-year-old Indian startup that pivoted from offline event technology to become an online events platform in March 2020.

Despite this competition, Mangal says Airmeet is the only platform closely replicating real-life event spaces. He emphasized that their product offers DIY customization, contextual features, video on demand, and extensive in-depth analytics to ensure engaging events with high ROI. Plus, it is also the only AI-driven smart speed networking technology available in the immersive event space, he added.

Airmeet announced today it has raised $35 million in a series B round led by Prosus Ventures, Sistema, Sequoia Capital India, and RingCentral Ventures. The funding takes the total capital raised by the company to over $50 million.

With this infusion, the company plans to accelerate growth by expanding its R&D division and strengthening its presence across global markets. 

“Most of our current growth has come from NAM & EU so we feel there’s massive demand that we can capture,” Mangal said. He also noted that part of the focus would be on creating awareness around the product, accelerating go-to-market and strategic initiatives, and exploring opportunities around the metaverse.

“The metaverse is absolutely something that is on our radar and, we believe, is the next step in immersive experiences. The pandemic has brought in a marked shift in the way we work, with the adoption of trends that are here to stay. The growth of remote collaboration and decentralized work life will only fuel the demand for more immersive, engaging, and interactive experiences,” he said.

According to Markets and Markets, the global virtual event platform market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 12.7%, touching $18.9 Billion by 2026.

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz