Skift Take
Bizzabo has acquired TeeVid, a little-known Israeli video production startup, to power its brand new video production suite. Video production is a top priority for all major virtual and hybrid event platforms, yet Bizzabo claims its approach is different.
Bizzabo announced today the acquisition of interactive virtual event platform TeeVid and the launch of its Ultimate Video Production Suite.
TeeVid is Bizzabo’s third acquisition in the last five months, following its acquisitions of x.ai and Whalebone. The company raised almost $138M in December 2020, with acquisitions clearly part of its business strategy. “Bizzabo is taking a differentiated approach in a rapidly growing market that has grown to more than $30 billion,” said Bizzabo co-founder, CMO and CCO Alon Alroy.
Bizzabo seems to be taking a similar approach to event tech unicorn Hopin, which acquired StreamYard in January. In addition, other event tech vendors like EventMobi opted to partner with established video production platforms.
The acquisition is a strong statement from Bizzabo and a big step forward in providing what Alroy describes as high-quality video content that will “keep the attention of even the most virtual-weary audiences.”
“Video is a crucial part of hybrid event strategies, both as a way to deliver personalized, immersive experiences as well as empowering flexibility and choice,” said Eran Ben-Shushan, co-founder and CEO at Bizzabo.
While the focus on video production is common to all virtual and hybrid event platforms, Bizzabo is keen to differentiate itself from competitors. It considers many platforms a mashup of features and various technologies, while its approach focuses on native capabilities specifically designed for events.
This investment in a video production tool doesn’t come as a surprise given Bizzabo’s recent expansion. While TeeVid is by no means a household name among event professionals, Bizzabo was attracted by what it sees as a differentiated approach to video production software. “Compared to other companies that have focused solely on developing producer applications, TeeVid’s offering is a comprehensive, expanded video production suite, empowering creators by giving them the ability to tell their stories as they imagine it,” said Alroy.
TeeVid was founded just four years ago in Tel Aviv, Israel, the same city Bizzabo emerged from in 2012 and where it still has one of its main offices. “[TeeVid’s] commitment to event experiences is entirely in step with Bizzabo’s company vision and the Event Experience OS,” said Alroy.
The new Ultimate Video Production Suite promises to create an immersive experience for attendees and presenters that blends content and video in a seamless TV-like experience. It is not just aimed at main stage video production but also conducting breakout sessions and publishing user-generated content.
AV teams and production agencies are not the focus of Bizzabo’s new offering. Instead, the focus is on helping planners produce high-quality video while avoiding the increased cost and complexity of working with a production agency. “We’ve set out to offer the best possible tools natively so customers can create immersive event experiences of any size or format without any qualifications,” said Alroy.
Despite the investment, Bizzabo will keep video production options open for clients on its platform, which it is marketing as an “open platform” able to integrate with multiple different third-party solutions.
