InEvent: Shaping up the future of the B2B event market space

We’re thrilled to announce our collaboration with the team behind the virtual event platform InEvent! Read more on TechCrunch.

“The world will never be the same” is an expression that used to be thrown around lightly. After a year like 2020, it’s taken on new meaning.

As the government-mandated lockdowns continue in 2021, it becomes increasingly clear that the changes we were forced to make last year to adapt to the “new normal” are here to stay. That includes the way we work and interact with each other on a personal and professional level.

A MASSIVE market

The worldwide crisis has forced the event industry to grind to a halt, unlocking the massive growth of a category that was previously considered a less-than-ideal alternative to the real thing: virtual event management platforms. Initially regarded as a temporary fix to a temporary situation, they’re now believed to be a market that could outsize previous revenue estimates of $404 billion by 2027, even in the post-COVID era.

Before the pandemic, InEvent was already tackling the event space, focusing on making in-person experiences more cost-efficient and enjoyable for both the organizer and participant. Since March 2020, the business has embraced a swell of new demand and delivered a robust virtual event platform quickly adopted by event organizers and businesses alike. Combined with the in-person experience they’ve already gathered with customers like Coca Cola and Citibank, their technology will have a big part to play when the world reopens and people can choose whether to physically attend events or participate from home, leading to a new era of hybrid events.

Features that matter

The team at InEvent has nailed crucial features that make a virtual event platform appealing. By avoiding the distraction of building 3D features in an attempt to mimic real-life experiences, they focused instead on what really matters for hosting and attending a great online event:

• The ability to host simultaneous video sessions and easily navigate through different conference tracks. This is a significant upgrade over traditional online platforms such as webcast tools, 1-to-1 or 1-to-many video conference tools, and most first-generation streaming platforms.
• Live 1–1 and group video meetings. These include interactive polling, Q&A that allows event organizers to jump in when prospects or customers have a question, and networking through 1-on-1 chat. These features are a huge advantage for sales teams aiming to close prospects and/or upsell customers.
• The ability to fully customize the platform. Users can brand event UI as desired, making InEvent their platform.
• Support team 24/5. Managing events is stressful; being able to reach a support team as needed is a relief, especially while running events.

B2B twist

InEvent’s highly considered feature set is a decisive stand out in a space seeing new players every week. Businesses trying to stay close to their customers, enterprises aiming to continue their field marketing activities, event organizers trying to keep up with the crisis, and associations hoping to keep their members engaged are all raving about the product, putting InEvent at the top of the B2B vertical of this massive market.

Insanely resilient team

While a great product in a large market is always a nice reason to get excited, the team behind InEvent has been the main reason we decided to join the company’s journey. Getting to know these three Brazilian co-founders and hearing about their journey from dropping out of the “Brazilian MIT” to building one of the leading businesses in the virtual event platform category has been a truly exceptional experience.

Pedro, Vini, and Mauricio are students of life who never take no for an answer (read this story on how they ended up joining YC S19) and haven’t hesitated to make bold decisions designed to take their business to the next level. What made me personally even more excited to partner with this team is the fact that they have been prioritizing diversity in the company’s culture from day 1. Across inEvent employees based in 13 (!) different countries, 50% of managers are female, and 50% are Latino.

We’re proud to join them on their journey and excited to welcome them to the Storm Ventures family!