Egyptian startup Eventtus has secured an investment round to enable it to launch a digital events platform as it responds to the negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the events industry.
Founded in 2012 by Mai Medhat and Nihal Fares, Eventtus is an-all-in-one platform for events ticketing, event management and apps for events.
The startup creates interactive event apps that allow organisers to engage attendees by enabling them to customise their event schedule through an interactive agenda as well as offering them instant updates through a social media feed and opportunities to network with other attendees.
Physical events across the world have been cancelled until further notice as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting Eventtus to start developing a virtual eventing platform to assist event organisers adjust to the situation.
To assist the speedy buildout and rollout of this platform the startup, which last raised funding in 2017, has secured an undisclosed investment from Hala Ventures, Algebra Ventures and DAAL VC. The product is expected to be ready in a few weeks.
“When events were cancelled and postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and event planners started being concerned about the industry, we took the responsibility to do our thorough research and come up with a new, exclusive product that facilitates and evolves the future of events,” Medhat in a blog post.
“We realised that while people are resorting to live streaming on different platforms such as Facebook and Zoom to host sessions and webinars, event planners and attendees will still need the other essential components of an event experience that a simple live video does not completely fulfill. New types and formats of events will emerge to meet the different needs. Our research and development led us to reimagine the whole event experience and aim to revamp the whole industry.”
Medhat said the startup will be using the funding for further development and innovation in a bid to sustain the industry.
“During crises, there are companies who blame the market for their own failures and those who use the market’s failure to make their own success. We believe that Eventtus belongs to the latter and thus we decided to invest in them during such a critical crisis,” said Ali Abussaud, founder and managing partner at Hala Ventures.
“What Eventtus has built over the last few years provides a solid foundation that will allow them to reinvent conferences and exhibitions. The team’s track record of creating innovative experiences makes us confident they can succeed in that,” said Ziad Mokhtar, general partner at Algebra Ventures.
