As event organizers rethink their carbon footprint, London-based startup Hopin is paving the way for more physical events to be moved online.
To that end, the all-in-one online live events platform has announced a capital raise of $6.5 million.
Accel, a previous investor in Travelstop and HotelTonight, is leading the seed round.
Northzone, Seedcamp, Web Summit’s Amaranthine Fund, Slack Fund and other angel investors also participated.
Founded in 2019, Hopin allows organizers to host online live events of as many as 100,000 attendees.
Unlike traditional video-conferencing tools, Hopin’s platform features several modes of live video interaction with one-on-one and group conferencing options.
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Says Johnny Boufarhat, Hopin co-founder and CEO: “When we remove barriers to people coming together in an authentic way, we can start to win the battle against loneliness and isolation.”
The new funding will be used to roll out Hopin in 2020, which is currently in a waitlist mode, and to scale operations.
Travel stigma
Tourism is increasingly seen as harmful for the environment, with trends such as “flight shaming” forcing travelers to reconsider going to long-distance events.
“By bringing an event such as a conference, summit or workshop onto Hopin, whether as a virtual add-on experience or entirely web-based, brands can facilitate their events for a much larger global audience at a far less cost to the planet,” says Hopin.
In a blog post on its website, Accel echoes the same environmental concerns.
“We want to attend some of the great events and conferences across the continent, but they can be hard to fit into a packed travel schedule - and add to our carbon footprint,” says Accel.