LinkedIn Jumps Onboard With Virtual Events Provider Hopin

LinkedIn

Virtual events provider Hopin said it has landed LinkedIn as an investor and partner. The two companies plan to collaborate to offer new opportunities for event organizers, according to a Wednesday (June 9) press release.

London-based Hopin announced this spring (March 4) that it had raised $400 million, in part to expand its virtual and hybrid operations. That funding valued the company at $5.65 billion.

“LinkedIn is more than just an investor,” said Johnny Boufarhat, CEO and founder of Hopin. The goal is “to help LinkedIn members and Hopin users engage with more people and discover immersive experiences.”

“Virtual events are here to stay, and we recognize our customers use many platforms, so we want to make it easy for them to extend the reach of their live events onto LinkedIn,” said Scott Roberts, vice president of business development at LinkedIn. “Together with Hopin and Streamyard, we’ll be exploring more ways that we can help event organizers and attendees build meaningful connections and form long-lasting communities.”

Terms of the deal with LinkedIn were not disclosed.

Hopin acquired StreamYard, a video streaming studio, in 2020 and acquired video hosting provider Streamable and video technology company Jamm in 2021. Hopin also recently acquired mobile app development firm Topi, as it continues to invest in mobile platform technology.

Since February of 2020, Hopin has raised more than $565 million. That includes the funding announced this March, which was co-led by new investors Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst, and existing investor IVP. Also participating were returning investors Coatue, DFJ Growth, Northzone, Salesforce Ventures and Tiger Global.

In March, Boufarhat said the company was looking toward “a hybrid world — in which more and more events, experiences and exchanges will have both in-person and online dimensions.”

Hopin said it has grown from a company of only six employees in the beginning of 2020 to It has grown from a few hundred event creators to more than 95,000 organizations with millions of attendees each month.