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Hopin said the deal will help these products reach millions more users and allow the unicorn to focus on helping people connect meaningfully beyond geographical boundaries.
Virtual events unicorn Hopin has sold its events and session product line to communications platform RingCentral.
The London-based company said the decision will help these products reach “millions more users” and allow Hopin to focus on “helping people connect meaningfully beyond geographical boundaries”. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.
The acquisition includes technology assets, customer relationships and staff from Hopin’s engineering, product and go-to-market teams, according to RingCentral. The US-based company plans to use these assets to give its customers more choice, such as “video use cases around interactive events”.
Meanwhile, Hopin CEO Johnny Boufarhat is stepping down as part of changes within the company. Badri Rajasekar, the company’s chief technology and product officer, will transition over the next month to become the new CEO of Hopin.
“Badri brings a wealth of experience in leadership and an innovative mindset, making him a perfect fit for the role,” Boufarhat said. “I am fully confident that under Badri’s stewardship, Hopin will continue to dynamically adapt and flourish as we pursue our ambitions.
“Although I’ll be stepping back from day-to-day operations, I am excited to continue to contribute to Hopin’s journey as a member of the board.”
Hopin attracted a lot of VC (venture capital) attention in recent years, as Covid-19 lockdowns provided a boost for the online events industry. It raised $400m in its Series C round in 2021, led by Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst.
This swiftly followed its $125m Series B round in November 2020, where Tiger Global Management and Salesforce Ventures backed the company among others.
Hopin was valued at $5.65bn less than two years after it was founded. It began an acquisition spree in 2021 when it acquired Streamable, a video hosting platform with 5,000 paying customers, and Jamm, which had raised just a small amount of venture capital funding.
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