EventX raises USD 10M partners with HTC to Redefine Virtual Event Experiences

EventX has closed USD 10 million and made a partnership with HTC VIVE to redefine virtual event experiences.

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EventX and HTC VIVE alliance

EventX is a virtual event management company while HTC VIVE is a leading VR company. Hundreds of the world's largest event industry players and brands, including Alibaba, PwC, GL Events, Informa, Reed Exhibitions, Yahoo, government departments, and universities, have awarded EventX contracts for its unique capabilities, which include support for in-country and cross-border events with mainland China.

EventX is a dominant virtual event platform in Asia, especially for events that involve mainland China attendees where its unique design architecture overcomes internet firewalls to enable the service of any cross-region events. Meanwhile, HTC VIVE has gained great attention and acclaim for its strides in VR research and development. By combining the knowledge pools of the two respected digital trailblazers, a range of unique experiences is set to be developed through this strategic alliance. Both the founding of this strategic alliance and the massive enthusiasm of its investors follow a year of an incredible performance by EventX—during which the company has posted YoY user growth exceeding 800 percent—and several years of more than 5 million satisfied attendees in over 20,000 online, hybrid and offline events.

The events business in the Philippines has been impacted particularly hard by the pandemic, with numerous live events ranging from personal to corporate sorts being rescheduled or canceled entirely. More than 40,000 enterprises have been affected in the live events sector alone, which contributes roughly USD 221 billion to the national economy, and thousands of workers, including freelancers, have been displaced.

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The transition to virtual events has assisted in relieving the pandemic's disruption. Even though public gatherings are now permitted in some areas of the country, subject to safety regulations, virtual or online events are expected to grow in popularity as businesses and event planners or agencies take advantage of the greater accessibility and creative capabilities of online platforms. By 2027, virtual events are expected to surpass original revenue forecasts of USD 404 billion.

Hybrid events, which combine online and offline elements to provide greater flexibility and accessibility in terms of reaching a larger audience, managing invitations, registrations, and payments, enriching audience engagement, and content delivery, are the next big thing in the Philippine events industry.

COVID-19 has had a long-term impact on the professional events industry, as well as attracting venture capitalists to invest heavily in the virtual event software field. Hopin, a similar company in the UK, has raised USD 565 million and has a market size of USD 5.65 billion in just two years, making it Europe's fastest-growing startup of all time.

EventX, which focuses on the Asia region, is an emerging player in the same virtual and hybrid event space. Together with HTC VIVE and unique China access, to make the virtual event experience more accessible and reinvent it, the companies will incorporate VR and prospecting technologies into the basic capabilities of the event SaaS platform. For the first time, EventX is providing a virtual event lite platform and making it available for NGOs, SMEs, and startups to register and host virtual events for free at this link.

The president of VIVEPORT, Joseph Lin has said,

VR has the power to improve the world. At HTC VIVE, we strive to create the tools to expedite VR adoption—using not only our VR devices but also computers, tablets, and smartphones—and interact effectively. The strategic alliance with EventX illustrates HTC VIVE’s continuous efforts in providing people and enterprises with the tools to meet, socialize and learn in VR and beyond. Massive possibilities and enthusiasm can be seen in this partnership to bring people closer together without any geographical boundaries.

The co-founder and CEO Sum Wong also commented regarding the strategic alliance,

It is certain that virtual workspaces and virtual events will become the new norm. The creation of this alliance will result in a deep level of integration between our own expertise and HTC VIVE’s groundbreaking work in the VR space. This collaboration will result in EventX bringing virtual and hybrid event experiences to a brand new level of immersion and interactivity. To take the responsibility as one of the event industry leaders, EventX will keep exploring new possibilities of event technology, popularizing the application, and meeting users' needs.

Following the funding, the company plans to invest extensively in products and engineering in order to lead the recovery of the events sector, which will not only consolidate and solidify existing virtual event services but also carve out new places and opportunities for marketing and event industries.

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