EventHub

EventHub Co., Ltd. operates as a business-to-business event marketing platform, offering a comprehensive Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution for managing online, offline, and hybrid events. The company was founded in February 2016 by CEO Rie Yamamoto and CTO Masaya Iseki. Yamamoto, born in the UK and raised in the US and Japan, graduated from Brown University and previously worked at McKinsey & Company's San Francisco office before freelancing for Japanese startups. This international background and experience in both corporate strategy and the startup ecosystem provided the foundation for establishing a global-minded tech company in Japan. Iseki, a software engineer with a background in open-source development for Firefox and Google Chrome, brought deep technical expertise to the founding team.

The company's core offering is the "EventHub" platform, which equips businesses to handle the entire event lifecycle. This includes creating registration pages, managing attendees, streaming video content, and conducting post-event data analysis. It serves a diverse corporate clientele, from tech giants like Adobe and Rakuten to organizations like JETRO and Informa Markets, helping them generate quality leads and enhance customer engagement through event marketing. The business model is primarily subscription-based, providing recurring revenue through access to its platform and suite of tools. The platform is designed to increase efficiency for event organizers and maximize the return on investment by providing detailed analytics on attendee engagement and behavior, which can be integrated with CRM and marketing automation (MA) systems like Salesforce.

Initially focused on facilitating networking at in-person events, EventHub pivoted swiftly with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Within two weeks, the team developed and launched features for online events, a move that led to a reported 20-fold increase in sales. This adaptability demonstrated the company's resilience and market awareness. The platform's key features support a wide range of event types, including webinars, large-scale conferences, and trade shows. Functionalities include customizable branding, live chat and polling, breakout rooms, appointment scheduling, and detailed analytics dashboards. For offline and hybrid events, it offers QR code check-ins and tools to bridge the gap between physical and virtual attendees. A significant milestone was the Series A funding round in November 2022, where the company raised 650 million JPY ($4.5M) led by JAFCO and Uzabase, bringing its total funding to over 1 billion JPY. This capital is aimed at solidifying its market-leading position in Japan and fueling expansion into the broader Asia-Pacific region.

Keywords: Event marketing platform, B2B events, SaaS, webinar software, conference management, hybrid events, virtual events, lead generation, attendee engagement, event analytics, marketing automation integration, Rie Yamamoto, Masaya Iseki, JAFCO, Uzabase, Salesforce Ventures, Sansan, event management software, Japan, Asia-Pacific, online events, corporate events, trade show technology, data-driven marketing, customer engagement.