etouches seals $20m in growth funding and acquires Zentila

Connecticut-based provider in cloud event management software, etouches, has followed up its announcement of securing US$20m in growth funding, with a fresh acquisition. The new funding from a mix of new and existing investors will go to accelerate the event platform’s global growth. “This investment, combined with our strong, rapid year-on-year growth, will further bolster our leadership position as we remain the only viable innovative driver of significant scale in our market,” said etouches’ chief executive officer Oni Chukwu. etouches event management software serves corporations, associations, educational institutions and third party planners. The multi-module platform offers event tools for venue sourcing, registration, logistics, engagement, ROI and data. The company had previously acquired mobile event app TapCrowd and venue sourcing platform inevention, integrating them into the etouches platform. “With ongoing consolidation in the market, our opportunity to stand out as the most comprehensive, innovative, and differentiated enterprise platform has never been greater,” Chukwu added. Over the last year, the company has expanded its business in the Middle East and Singapore, and strengthened its teams in the Europe and Asia Pacific regions. etouches says it plans to grow its workforce of 150 to 200 globally by the end of 2017. “With our year-over-year revenue growth exceeding 50% and our enterprise growth at 110%, we are poised for key growth with our focus on innovations like ROI, mobile, and hospitality offerings,” said Chukwu. The company’s latest acquisition, announced 1 June, is of Orlando-based hospitality and venue sourcing solution Zentila. The enterprise SaaS company is focused primarily on corporate and third-party meeting/event planners. “Following etouches’ acquisition of hotel and venue sourcing engine Inevention in mid-2015, Zentila represents a perfect complement to our industry-leading platform,” said Shane Edmonds, CTO of etouches. “Zentila’s product, technology, and staff will bolster etouches’ venue sourcing.” Founder and CEO of Zentila Mike Mason will join the etouches executive team as vice-president, sourcing and hospitality solutions. With the recent consolidation of the market by Vista Equity Partners, which bought Cvent in a $1.65bn-deal, etouches, founded in 2008, is emerging as a major enterprise alternative to their solutions.