Hubilo CEO says virtual events industry has ‘collapsed’ as company lays off more staff

The virtual events bubble continues to deflate with India-based specialist Hubilo laying off yet more staff, according to social media sources. Most of the new round of redundancies are believed to be in sales and marketing roles outside of India. Company founder and CEO Vaibhav Jain (pictured) posted on LinkedIn: “I am humbled each day to be a part of Hubilo’s journey and, while I often come to LinkedIn to celebrate our accomplishments, today I come with news of a necessary but extremely difficult turn in our path. “In 2020, we built a product that the world demanded, and we saw tremendous growth and success. We’ve had ups, downs, and everything in between since. With the reopening of the world (and subsequent collapse of the virtual events industry), our plans had to dramatically change, and we’ve spent 2023 building and delivering the best webinar experience out there. The reality is – while we’re excited about the growth and impact we’ve been able to have in the webinar space, it’s not yet sustainable with the size of our current organisation. Unfortunately, as a result, a number of our incredibly talented employees are now available for work. They have contributed greatly to our history and we are confident their future contributions will be substantial. If you see Hubilo on a resume, please contact us so we can share exactly how that employee has impacted our journey. We’d love to help these awesome individuals find their next homes. “First and foremost, thank you to our employees – past, present, and future. Obviously, nothing is accomplished without you. Second, thank you to our customers around the world. We will continue to provide you with the best product and service out there.” The latest round of reported redundancies follow lay-offs in 2023 and in January 2023. Hubilo had successfully raised large funding in 2021 – over $123.3m in one round led by Alkeon Capital and including Lightspeed Venture Partners and Balderton Capital, as well as making several acquisitions. In an interview with CMW in October 2021, Jain, who founded the company in 2015, had said he expected the company to increase its overall staff total by 150%. Although the virtual events bubble has now clearly burst, there has been serious criticism of Hubilo’s management strategy, including from former senior employees online on LinkedIn and on the Glassdoor site.