The infographic is inspired by Scott Brinker’s MarTech 8000, a well-known marketing technology landscape infographic that has been released annually since 2011. Brinker’s infographic includes even technology and is the benchmark for the staggering four-fold increase in the number of vendors this year.
“I’ve been following this space closely during COVID but was still shocked by the sheer number of vendors that have emerged”, said the creator Fab Capodicasa, CEO of Hoosh.
Above: The EventTech 800, May 2021. (Click for full-size version.)
Credit: Fab Capodicasa/Hoosh.agency
According to the creator the list is not comprehensive, but it clearly showed cloud-based event software startups are “blossoming at an incredible rate” and far outpacing consolidation occurring at the larger end of town. “I’ve been working in the tech industry for over 25 years and I’ve never seen such a rapid and brutal digital transformation as what happened to events in 2020.” said Capodicasa.
At the heart of this trend is the billions of investor dollars pouring into the space. Event tech vendors have raised large amounts of money during the pandemic. This year alone saw ON24 raising $428 million through its IPO and Hopin, founded only in 2019, raising $565 million with a $5.65 billion valuation. Zoom itself raised $2 billion all while becoming a household name.
The EventTech 800 is a visual representation of this explosive growth, but it also lays bare the overwhelming feeling that overcomes many planners in sourcing event tech. Eric Kingstad, Principal of Kingstad Event Technologists, sees the EventTech 800 as verifying his belief, “that the event tech sector [has become] the Wild West.”
This total number of event tech vendors is likely to surprise many in the event industry. While there is no doubt that the virtual side of the industry is booming, it remains to be seen how many will thrive as in-person events become an option once more.