Consolidation and Convergence: A Comprehensive Analysis of the EventTech Procurement Market (2023-2025)

The global event technology landscape, widely known as EventTech, has undergone an unprecedented structural metamorphosis during the three-year period from 2023 to 2025. This period, initially marked by a dramatic correction of pandemic-era valuations, has evolved into a phase of strategic consolidation where artificial intelligence (AI), first-party data and systemic integration with enterprise marketing have redefined the very purpose of digital tools in the meetings and conventions industry. The transition from niche, purely virtual-focused solutions to unified platforms capable of managing the complexity of face-to-face and hybrid events is at the heart of the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity analyzed in this report.

The Macroeconomic Context and the Great Valuation Correction

To understand the dynamics of acquisitions in 2023, 2024 and 2025, it is imperative to analyze the macroeconomic forces that acted as catalysts. The global technology M&A market in 2023 faced an environment of high interest rates, inflationary pressures and geopolitical instability. These conditions forced a financial discipline that ended the growth-at-any-cost era common during the 2020 and 2021 virtual event boom.

The event industry not only recovered from pandemic paralysis, but thrived through resilient adaptation. In 2023, 75.3% of companies reported that their primary support focused on face-to-face events, underscoring the enduring value of direct human connection. This massive return to the physical exposed the vulnerability of platforms that failed to evolve their capabilities towards onsite solutions or seamless integrations with the digital marketing ecosystem of companies.

The valuation correction was particularly severe for the former "unicorns" of the pandemic. The case of Hopin, which reached a peak valuation of $7.75 billion, only to sell its core assets for a fraction of that figure in 2023, symbolizes the end of a speculative bubble and the beginning of an era of pragmatic consolidation led by private equity firms and strategic players with strong balance sheets.

2023: The Year of Rescue and Strategic Privatization

The year 2023 is defined by two seismic movements that set the tone for the rest of the triennium: Blackstone's takeover of Cvent and the breakup of Hopin's assets. These deals were not simply financial transactions, but statements about the future direction of the industry.

The Acquisition of Cvent by Blackstone

In June 2023, Blackstone completed the acquisition of Cvent, the meetings and hospitality technology giant, for approximately $4.6 billion.9 This transaction took Cvent off the public stock exchange (Nasdaq) and placed it under the private equity structure, giving it the flexibility to execute an aggressive acquisition strategy without the quarterly scrutiny of the public market. The investment included a significant minority stake from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, reflecting the global interest in event technology infrastructure.

The strategic importance of this deal lies in the consolidation of Cvent as an "acquisition machine". Under Blackstone's ownership, Cvent began identifying capability gaps in critical areas such as field marketing, lead capture and 3D spatial design, paving the way for the moves seen in 2024 and 2025.

Hopin's Fragmentation and Acquisition by RingCentral

In August 2023, RingCentral announced the purchase of the technology assets of Hopin's Events platform and Session product. Subsequently disclosed financial terms indicated a purchase price of only $15 million, a staggeringly low figure compared to Hopin's previous valuation.

For RingCentral, the motivation was to round out its enterprise video and collaboration portfolio, extending beyond standard meetings and webinars into complex hybrid and virtual events. This acquisition included not only technology, but also critical engineering and sales talent. The analysis suggests that this move was a response to the growing demand for unified communications solutions (UCaaS) that integrate event capabilities as a standard component, rather than as a stand-alone tool.

Other Relevant Movements in 2023

As the market stabilized, other companies sought to strengthen their specific offerings:

• Hubilo acquires Fielddrive: In February 2023, Hubilo, focused on virtual events, acquired Fielddrive, a company specializing in on-site registration and accreditation services.8 This move was an early attempt by Hubilo to diversify its offering in the face of the return of physical events, although the parent company would continue to face significant financial difficulties in the following years.8
• Skift acquires Twenty31: In September 2023, Skift, a leader in travel and meetings industry intelligence, acquired consultancy Twenty31, strengthening its ability to provide strategic data and analytics in a market increasingly hungry for insights into consumer behavior and business travel trends.

2024: The Rise of Roll-up and Operational Specialization

If 2023 was the year of the big bailouts, 2024 was characterized by the acquisition of tactical capabilities. Leading companies used their capital reserves to buy startups that solved specific problems in event logistics and demand generation.

Cvent's Systematic Expansion

Throughout 2024, Cvent executed a series of strategic acquisitions designed to transform its platform from a registration software into a complete operating system for event marketing:

• Jifflenow and iCapture (January 2024): These two acquisitions strengthened Cvent's trade show presence. Jifflenow provided B2B appointment scheduling software, while iCapture provided advanced lead capture solutions. Together, they allowed exhibitors to accurately measure the ROI of their face-to-face interactions.
• Reposite (June 2024): The Reposite integration added a layer of artificial intelligence to the supplier search, connecting organizers with a database of more than 35,000 service providers. This simplified one of the most time-consuming processes in the planning process: the sourcing.
• Splash (September 2024): Perhaps the most strategic acquisition of the year for Cvent was Splash, an event marketing platform focused on brand design and ease of use for "field marketers." Splash allowed Cvent to penetrate the market for smaller, more frequent events, a trend known as Event-Led Growth (ELG).

Consolidation in the Enterprise Segment

Other platforms also sought scale. RainFocus, backed by private equity firms such as KKR and JMI Equity, acquired WebEvents Global in September 2024. This move reinforced RainFocus' position as Cvent's leading independent competitor at the enterprise level, focusing on large-scale data management and personalization.

On the other hand, Stova (the result of the previous merger of Aventri, MeetingPlay and eventcore) spent much of 2024 integrating its platforms and unifying its data under a new leadership structure following the appointment of Kirk Ziehm as CEO in January 2024. Stova's focus was on delivering an end-to-end event technology ecosystem that was flexible enough for any size or location of event.

Hopin's sale of StreamYard to Italy's Bending Spoons in April 2024 closed Hopin's divestment chapter, allowing the streaming tool to continue to operate independently under new ownership focused on the creator economy.

2025: Artificial Intelligence and the Ultimate Integration in MarTech

In 2025, the EventTech market reached a structural maturity where artificial intelligence is no longer an experimental feature but the connective tissue of all platforms. This year's acquisitions reflect a shift towards video content, marketing automation and advanced visualization.

Cvent December Frenzy

The year 2025 concluded with what analysts called a "buying spree" by Cvent, spending approximately $700 million in just two weeks to acquire two of its most significant competitors in the digital space:

• Goldcast (December 15, 2025): For approximately $300 million, Cvent acquired this video content platform designed specifically for B2B webinars and virtual events. Goldcast's technology enables marketing teams to instantly transform live event moments into video clips, recaps and sales activations using AI. This acquisition addressed a critical gap in Cvent's ability to generate high-quality post-event content in an automated manner.
• ON24 (December 30, 2025): In a $400 million deal, Cvent acquired the veteran leader in webinars and digital engagement.23 ON24, which had seen its market capitalization drop by 89% from its peak in 2021, brought a massive base of first-party engagement data and AI-driven workflows. By absorbing ON24, Cvent eliminated one of its most formidable competitors and consolidated its control over the business webinar market.

These two moves signal a "marketing and event convergence," where the goal is no longer just to manage logistics, but to create a full marketing technology stack capable of capturing buyer intent across digital and in-person experiences.

The Emergence of 3D Spatial Design

In April 2025, Cvent also acquired Prismm (formerly known as Allseated), a pioneer in 3D spatial design and event visualization technology. This acquisition underscores a massive trend toward dynamic visual planning. In 2025, 3D visualization went from a "luxury" to a necessity, enabling organizers and venues to collaborate in real time on immersive, photorealistic designs, reducing operating costs and accelerating the sales cycle.

Consolidation in the Video and Webinar Segment

As the market consolidated at the top, other players sought to survive through strategic mergers. Brandlivea video platform for businesses, acquired competitor Hubilo in September 2025. This acquisition was driven by Brandlive's need to accelerate its innovation in AI-driven video and expand its presence in the enterprise market at a time when purely virtual platforms were losing traction to integrated ecosystems.

Cross-cutting Trends: What Drove These Agreements?

Beyond the company names and transaction amounts, there are fundamental trends that explain why this wave of M&A occurred between 2023 and 2025.

AI as a Consolidation Imperative

Artificial intelligence has been the main driver of corporate strategy. In 2025, CIOs prioritized vendor consolidation to reduce complexity and maximize the potential of AI. AI models require accurate, high-quality data to be useful; when data is trapped in disconnected digital silos, AI efforts fail. Acquisitions therefore focused on buying companies that not only had good tools, but also access to valuable interaction data.

The industry has moved from "experimentation" with generative AI to the implementation of "Agentic AI". This refers to technologies that can perform tasks autonomously, such as triaging alerts, customizing attendee agendas and generating networking recommendations based on predictive analytics.

Event-Led Growth (ELG): Events as a Revenue Driver

A fundamental paradigm shift has been the recognition of Event-Led Growth (ELG). By 2025, marketers adopting ELG strategies reported a 140% greater probability of achieving growth rates in excess of 50%. Events generate some of the most intent-driven first-party data in existence. In a world where third-party cookies have disappeared and digital attribution is increasingly difficult, interactions at events (whether digital or physical) have become the foundation for measurable growth.

Acquisitions of companies like Splash and iCapture reflect this need for brands to have a portfolio of regional events and micro-events, rather than just one massive conference a year. Technology must now enable the "democratization" of events, allowing local or sales teams to execute high quality events with centralized brand governance.

Return on Investment (ROI) and Operational Efficiency

With rising operating costs (venue rent and logistics up more than 18% since 2022), technology has been forced to demonstrate a clear return on investment. The platforms that have survived and consolidated the market are those that help reduce labor costs through automation and improve lead management efficiency.

Regional Analysis: North America as Epicenter

North America continued to lead in M&A activity and the use of event technology during this period, accounting for approximately 32% of global event activity and the vast majority of the value of technology M&A deals.

In the United States, the M&A market returned in 2024 to pre-pandemic levels, with growing confidence driven by solid corporate earnings and moderating inflation. Europe, while still the second largest market, has become more focused on compliance and data privacy (GDPR) based solutions, with a 43% increase in compliance-focused solutions in 2023.

On the other hand, the Asia-Pacific region experienced the highest growth rate in event digitization, led by India and China, where EventTech startups increased by 39% in 2023. This global dynamic suggests that while consolidation is occurring at the level of large U.S. suppliers, there is a vibrant ecosystem of local innovation in emerging markets that could be the next acquisition target in the second half of the decade.

Analysts' Perspective: Leaders and Challengers

Gartner and Forrester reports from late 2024 and early 2025 provide a clear picture of who won the battle for market dominance following these acquisitions:

• Bizzabo: It cemented itself as a leader in the Forrester Wave of late 2024, with its focus on the "Event Experience OS" and its wearable technology (Klik) gaining significant traction among brands seeking real-time engagement data.
• Cvent: Despite being an established giant, Cvent continued to be rated as a leader thanks to the breadth of its platform and its unique ability to support events of all sizes and complexities.
• RainFocus: It emerged as the strongest independent competitor, earning the highest strategy scores in Forrester's analysis for its focus on data-driven personalization.
• Bmotik: Emerging and increasingly strong in a region particularly "abandoned" by the Global EventTech, Latin America. With a strong presence in Colombia and steps in Mexico and Argentina, it is changing the way of doing corporate events in Latam.

The Future: Where is capital headed in 2026?

As we enter 2026, the EventTech industry no longer sees itself as a "logistics" sector, but as a "data intelligence" sector. Future acquisitions will likely focus on four pillars:

1. Integration of solutionsA broader ecosystem, addressing several pain points of organizers and attendees. Centralized and integrated management, allowing to intelligently organize and execute events of all sizes.
2. Autonomous AI: Startup acquisitions that can handle attendee communication, on-site change management and logistical problem solving without human intervention.
3. Measurable Sustainability: Tools that can track and mitigate the carbon footprint of events in real time, an area that has become "non-optional" for corporate planners.
4. Data Security and Privacy: Given that 26% of SaaS event platforms experienced at least one security incident in 2023, cybersecurity will become a key differentiator for high-value acquisitions.

The era of isolated tools is over. The 2023-2025 market has shown that only platforms that manage to integrate the physical human experience with the precision of digital marketing have a place in the budget of large corporations. The "Great Consolidation" led by Cvent and Blackstone is just the beginning of a new phase where the event is the epicenter of the business growth strategy.

Conclusions

The 2023-2025 triennium has been the most transformative period in the history of event technology. The industry has moved from a bubble of valuations inflated by the need for the virtual, to a consolidated, professionalized and deeply integrated market structure with artificial intelligence.

The lessons of these three years are clear:

• Scale matters: Consolidation and integration has favored end-to-end platforms that reduce vendor fatigue for CIOs.
• Video is the king of content: The acquisitions of Goldcast and ON24 demonstrate that the event doesn't end when the lights go out; its value lies in AI-driven content reuse.
• Data is the currency: The ability to capture and act on attendee intent in real time is what separates leading platforms from niche solutions.

The EventTech industry has moved beyond being an adjunct to planning and has become a critical piece of the revenue infrastructure of modern organizations. Those who ignore this convergence between physical and digital, between events and marketing, will find themselves at a disadvantage in a market that now values integration and intelligence above all else.

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