People have yearned for new ways to bond over the past couple of years while the pandemic has kept most group social activities at bay. Throughout this time, numerous solutions emerged to bring everyone together, regardless of (social) distance. Now that the new normal is digital, these kinds of solutions are here to stay. Launched in 2020, Newton-based Elevent is expanding its virtual events marketplace with a fresh round of seed funding.
Elevent announced a $2.75 million seed funding round led by TDF Ventures on Monday. Other investors including Lightbank, K50 Ventures, Purple Arch Ventures and Verissimo Ventures also participated.
Elevent offers a range of virtual experiences that companies and other experience providers can book for groups of various sizes. It combines digital events with physical experiences for team building, client engagement, remote celebrations and rewards. For instance, it offers a tea and chocolate tasting that’s hosted virtually by Gourmet Boutique. Those attending the event get kits mailed to their addresses containing the tea and chocolate samples they need to enjoy the experience.
Elevent’s marketplace features a plethora of other events as well, from escape rooms and scavenger hunts to cooking courses and comedy shows. It has booked and completed over 3,000 events in the past six months, according to the company.
“We are excited about this additional investment which gives us the opportunity to accelerate our platform for our event hosts and our corporate customers,” Jon Conelias, Elevent’s CEO, said in a statement. “We have worked with over 2,000 companies and 300 hosts, providing engaging events to nearly 100,000 event participants.”
The new funding will enable Elevent to expand into new domestic and international geographies. It’s also furthering the buildout and automation of its platform for customer self-service. The company plans to continue to add in-person events to its marketplace and streamline the process of hosting and managing live events for planners.
Elevent operates with the goal of helping users build lasting connections. It helps companies leverage data to better understand their event ROI and is putting extra attention toward this initiative.
“Understanding how to create unique relationships through events leads to significantly better outcomes, whether the goal is internal team building or higher conversion rates for sales teams,” Conelias said. “We are creating better relationships through events and generating positive ROI for our clients.”
As it grows its platform, Elevent is currently hiring a front-end engineer, a product manager lead and a software engineer.
Elevent secured $2 million in a previous raise and has $5.1 million in total venture capital to date, according to Crunchbase.
