Hopin is expanding beyond virtual events with the acquisition of Boomset—becoming an all-in-one event management platform that now offers onsite capabilities for hybrid and in-person events.
After a year of tectonic changes, events are being reimagined.
When we started Hopin in mid-2019, our ambition was to create a new way for people to come together around shared experiences.
Some months later, we launched our first product—a virtual event platform.
It was premised on the simple yet audacious idea that people should be able to take part in the conversations and communities they care most about—irrespective of physical distance.
As we saw it, this was the future of events.
Little did we know that that future would arrive so fast.
Starved of physical contact by last year’s pandemic, people around the world sought new ways to gather and connect.
One crucial way they did that was through solutions like the Hopin event platform.
For the first time, we all experienced the power of online events—particularly their ability to bring together vast, global audiences.
In the process, Hopin—and the product our small but mighty team had built—received the most humbling validation: the trust of a fast-growing customer base.
Our event platform emerged as the favored solution for event organizers, and Hopin became synonymous with virtual events.
Ultimately, that vote of confidence from our customers only renewed our ambition to create ever-better ways for people to come together around shared experiences.
And as our CEO Johnny Boufarhat has noted, shared experiences encompass virtual events—but also a lot more.
To that end, Hopin is pleased to announce our acquisition of Boomset, the premier global provider of onsite event services.
As we all look forward to a post-pandemic future, it is clear that events will take many forms—in-person, virtual, hybrid.
With this acquisition, Hopin adds industry-best onsite event tools—for hybrid and in-person events—to our product set and becomes the single solution for producing events, period.
All-in-one event management platform
As the world re-opens, in-person events will return, hybrid events will emerge, and virtual events will remain.
Our goal is to empower event managers to succeed with any event format.
With the acquisition of Boomset, Hopin will expand our event product offering, providing essential onsite event management tools, such as:
- Badges, self-service kiosks, and QR code check-in
- Access to innovative technology like tracking management with RFID/UHF/NFC and cashless payments
- Data insights that include check-in/check-out, session attendance, lead retrieval, and event demographics
Under the leadership of Kerem Baran, Boomset has built a suite of easy-to-use tools that support outstanding attendee experience. Working with the Boomset team, Hopin will carry that work forward for our customers.
Looking ahead, more than half of event organizers plan to host hybrid events in 2021 and beyond, according to Hopin data. Hybrid events offer the best of both worlds—the advantages of in-person and online events.
With new onsite tools, Hopin customers will now be able to realize the full potential of hybrid events—by integrating onsite and online event management. This includes the ability to centralize audience analytics.
Hopin’s acquisition of Boomset represents the evolution of our event product from virtual event software into a full-fledged event management platform.
That means a holistic solution that empowers anyone to plan, produce, and promote incredible event experiences—whether in-person, virtual, or hybrid.
Along with onsite services, the pillars of this platform are the virtual events product, or Virtual Venue; live video production, or Studio; and event marketing tools, such as Canvas and Registration.
Hopin Events will be the single, integrated platform that ties all of these together.
Ultimately, the motivation for this move—expanding our focus from virtual events to events more broadly—is the same as that of every decision we make: our customer.
When event organizers have greater flexibility with event formats than ever before, they deserve a solution that unifies all the event management tools they need in one place.
Over the last two years, Hopin has helped make possible immersive and interactive virtual event experiences for millions of people.
Today, we are bringing that same commitment to hybrid and in-person events—and erasing the line between online and offline engagement to acknowledge the new, more flexible normal in the events industry.
Shared experiences may take many forms—but our work, our constant aim will be to make these most powerful moments as accessible as possible for all.
Stay tuned for more.
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