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With many events pivoting online during Covid-19, virtual events platform Hopin has raised $125m in fresh funding.
UK-based Hopin has said that virtual events are here to stay after securing significant funding. In a blog post, the company confirmed it had closed $125m in Series B funding led by IVP and Tiger Global, with participation from Coatue and DFJ Growth.
Previous investors Accel, Northzone, Salesforce Ventures and Seedcamp also returned in this latest round, bringing Hopin’s total funds raised since February to $171m. As reported by Reuters, the company now has surged in value to $2bn, up from $42m less than a year ago.
Hopin founder and CEO Johnny Boufarhat said that the company has added 3.5m users since February. He added that the company has hired more than 200 staff this year and plans to increase its headcount by another 1,000 next year, bolstered by the new funding and $40m in Series A backing announced in June.
‘Moving at a record pace’
“During the first few months of the pandemic, there were some who questioned the long-term relevancy of virtual platforms,” Boufarhat wrote in the blog post.
“We don’t hear those arguments any more. There is a broad recognition that large parts of the new virtual infrastructure are here to stay, and it’s because they offer something that can’t be replicated anywhere else.”
In the eight months since it has launched, the platform has hosted events for over 50,000 organisations, from The Atlantic and WPP to NATO and the American Heart Association. Back in March, Siliconrepublic.com reported that the platform had hosted just over 200 events.
“We’ve brought in expert executives from places like Salesforce and Facebook and we’ve hired intensely entrepreneurial employees to take ownership of the product and its potential, all while prizing generosity and collaboration above all else,” Boufarhat added. “As a result, we are moving at a record pace, and we have no plans to ever slow down.”
The start-up also announced the beta launch of a new product called Hopin Explore, a virtual events marketplace where people can check out a list of virtual and hybrid events around the world.
