Event management platform Planned announces today the release of its new platform and website, following its recent $18M Series A. After a year of rapid growth–the company’s revenue grew 40X in 2022–this revamp marks Planned’s ambition to become the go-to platform for corporate events.

Event management platform Planned announces today the release of its new platform and website, following its recent $18M Series A led by Drive Capital. After a year of rapid growth–the company’s revenue grew 40X in 2022–this revamp marks Planned’s ambition to become the go-to platform for corporate events.

Planned first launched in 2017 as an ‘Airbnb’ for event spaces, before quickly pivoting to become the all-in-one digital platform for corporate events. After two years of business, the team raised its seed round and hired a 47-person team. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Planned’s business crashed overnight. They found themselves left with $2 million and a monthly burn rate of $400,000, forced to lay off 75% of the staff.

While they didn’t know how much time it would take for in-person events to make their comeback — they never stopped believing they would. They decided to use the time to talk to more than 300 clients and build their product roadmap. They bet on in-person events while watching virtual meeting companies gain massive momentum. Planned’s team stayed true to its mission, which is bringing people together.

And now the decision is paying off.

$18 million later
When COVID-19 restrictions eased, Planned’s sales pipeline grew exponentially. They raised $18 million in Series A funding in 2022; since then, their revenue has grown 40 times over.

Companies are trying hard to get their employees, clients, and business partners back together post-pandemic — but most haven’t succeeded, which has far-reaching effects on turnover and company culture. Planned and their clients believe the best way to bring people together is to create a culture of belonging and help people find value in in-person connections.

Planned was built to be the platform that brings people together, and that mission drove the rebranding:

• Planned’s new tagline: “Where your events come together.” is the perfect description for Planned’s product, which, at its core, is a centralized platform that event planners and procurement teams use to manage their events.
• The wavy thread–which you can see in the new logo–represents the bond between our platform, our users, and our suppliers, which all work together to create outstanding events.
• The new website and blog is a hub where Planned will highlight cool approaches that industry leaders are taking to bring people together.

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What’s next?
We’re entering a recession and corporate events remain one of the most significant unoptimized spending categories. For most companies–including Fortune 500 companies– it’s almost impossible to get a comprehensive view of how much is spent on events or to enforce preferred suppliers and rates. Especially when it comes to small, decentralized events organized by anyone in the organization.

Corporate travel expenses are estimated to be ~$930Bn in 2022. This is a category that companies have learned to track and optimize over the years, and generated huge savings from. Meanwhile, the global market for corporate events represents ~$1,060Bn. Small and simple meetings make up for a quarter of it, and they are one of the biggest saving opportunities for enterprises in 2023.

“Event budgets represent one of the biggest saving opportunities for enterprises in 2023. With its new features and strategy, Planned is uniquely positioned to help Fortune 500 companies gain control over their processes and spending” says Masha Khusid, Partner at Drive Capital.

Since raising its Series A, the company added 110,000 suppliers to its marketplace and launched several key features, including one-click payments, collaborative planning, and direct contracting. Soon, they will provide clients with internal meeting space booking, custom admin panels, as well as deeper integrations with accounting systems.

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