Virtual event platforms helped small businesses stabilize through Covid, cut down costs, says expert

Airmeet grew to greater than 2,400 prospects together with Nasscom, Walmart, Infosys, Accenture, Microsoft for Startups, Chargebee, and so on. (Consultant picture)

Expertise for MSMEs: The digital meet-up and occasion platforms have helped small companies stabilize and cruise by way of the pandemic’s limitations with out worrying about enterprise disruption and in addition perceive the way forward for distant work by bringing folks collectively throughout geographies, Lalit Mangal, Co-founder and CEO of Sequoia-backed Airmeet informed Monetary Categorical On-line. The platform dubbed as Zoom’s different in India additionally competes with different comparable apps reminiscent of Google Meet, JioMeet, Microsoft Groups, VConSol, Cisco, Webex Conferences, and so on. Mangal had final co-founded the outstanding actual property portal CommonFloor that was acquired by Quikr in 2016 for $200 million.

Regardless of having quite a few video conferencing merchandise out there, small companies and startups had confronted difficulties in bringing workers collectively to attain their mission and imaginative and prescient within the post-pandemic world. Communication had, in truth, turn into unidirectional in a distant surroundings. As a response to the prevailing state of affairs and to stay on high of planning and technique improvement, companies have been required to adapt to the brand new surroundings to yield development. This made entrepreneurs and their workers lose momentum and curiosity because it grew to become tough to attach with workers and set up a piece tradition remotely. In addition to these, workers have been hoarded with armies of conferences, making them lose productive hours.

The pandemic additionally introduced in lots of limitations in enterprise enlargement methods. Whereas internet hosting occasions on video conferencing platforms grew to become a norm, nonetheless, “It didn’t produce significant outcomes. Since occasions in these platforms will not be participating and didn’t give area for networking, it affected the speed of development of younger companies. Furthermore, buyer retention and enlargement grew to become an issue,” stated Mangal.

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As small companies earlier incurred big monetary investments and organizational logistics for working a whole workplace, working remotely by way of digital occasions platforms may minimize down the price of workplace areas, upkeep, and staffing. Consequently, it led to the expansion of platforms reminiscent of Airmeet as effectively. Prior to now 1.5 years, Mangal stated Airmeet grew to over a 300-member group and greater than 2,400 prospects together with Nasscom, Walmart, Infosys, Accenture, Microsoft for Startups, College of Toronto, Chargebee, Florida Worldwide College, and so on.

Airmeet can concurrently host as much as 1 lakh attendees on its platform. “We cater to a worldwide viewers because the logistics, efforts, and sources that went behind the dwell occasions have been super and all these constraints have been proscribing the scope of information sharing throughout the globe. We’ve seen fixed development throughout the lockdown when in comparison with pre-Covid instances,” added Mangal. The platform claimed it final month hosted the world’s largest distant work summit with the participation of over 800 folks from greater than 35 international locations. The worldwide video conferencing market is more likely to scale up from $9.2 billion in 2021 to $22.5 billion by 2026, at a Compound Annual Progress Price (CAGR) of 19.7 per cent, as per MarketsandMarkets, as Covid has triggered a transition towards distant working among the many workforce.