Dubai’s Eventtus raises investment to launch a live online events platform

Dubai-headquartered Eventtus has raised a new investment to build and launch an online events platform, it announced in a statement to MENAbytes without disclosing financial details about the investment. The investment came from Cairo-based Algebra Ventures that had led Eventtus’ $2 million Series A in late 2017, and Saudi-based Hala Ventures and Daal.

Founded in 2012 by Mai Medhat and Nihal Fares in Cairo, Eventtus is one of the leading technology startups of the region focused on events. The startup has been working with events and organizers across the region (and beyond), building mobile apps for them that are powered by its ticketing and registration systems.

The solutions Eventtus offers also come with business intelligence reports for organizers to learn how attendees are engaging with different segments of the event and what they can do to improve.

But the offline event businesses all over the world have been hit due to Covid-19. It would be safe to assume that after travel, events businesses are the worst hit because of Coronavirus pandemic. From small workshops to Expo 2020, everything is being postponed, canceled or moved online.

There has been a massive increase in online events with most of them being conducted over Zoom. Organizers and individuals are trying different things. We, at MENAbytes, have also been doing a series of different online events that include AMAs and online panels. Like the majority in the region, we’ve been doing this using Zoom Webinar which does the job but is far from being an ideal platform for it.

Eventtus, realizing the opportunity, has started working on its virtual events platform and aims to launch it within the next few weeks. The statement does have any details about the features of this product but the video that Eventtus has shared on their blog suggests that it will allow attendees to watch the sessions live online, interact with the speakers, and network with other attendees. The web and mobile-based platform, Eventtus said, could be used to organize events of all sizes, from workshops and corporate events to summits and hackathons.

Mai Medhat, the co-founder and CEO of Eventtus, speaking to MENAbytes said that they’re using some of their existing technology to build the live events product on top of it but it won’t be limited to features that they have from before, “It’s a new product with its own roadmap.”

Speaking about the interest from their existing customers for the new product, she said, “Most of our customers have shown interest to go virtual and are excited to use the new product. We created a waiting list for private access once we launch.”

In a statement, she added, “Virtual events are here to stay. The current pandemic is changing human behaviors and how we use technology and do business. New types of events and content will be created, virtual networking is different from face to face socializing and the current video conferencing offering doesn’t fit the future of events.”

The statement by Eventtus also said that its virtual event app is being developed keeping the long term market changes in mind so it is a useful solution even when the pandemic is over, “The app will be able to support hybrid events: ones that excitedly merge between on-ground and live; so that organizers and attendees of all backgrounds can have the most engaging event experience.”

Ziad Mokhtar, General Partner at Algbera Ventures, said, “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 [this too].”

Mai, speaking to MENAbytes, also said, that they have been using some of their down time working on product development and enhancements for our offline events product but their focus for the next few months will be entirely on virtual events.