Bizzabo announced its acquisition of x.ai, the powerful artificial intelligence scheduling tool. x.ai automates the most tedious parts of meetings by generating compatible times to meet across time zones, sending follow-ups and reminders, and managing cancellations. Bizzabo’s integration of x.ai’s scheduling engine will make it easy for event participants to make meaningful connections at virtual, in-person and hybrid events — powering both the discovery of who should meet as well as when and how.
“We founded the company based on the mission of bringing people together to create impactful experiences,” says Eran Ben-Shushan (pictured left), co-founder & CEO of Bizzabo. “In 2021 and beyond, we’re doubling down on creating personalized and immersive event experiences for attendees, speakers, sponsors and organizers. x.ai’s sophisticated scheduling and matchmaking technology will let attendees meet the right people at the right time.”
Founded in 2014, x.ai has assembled one of the biggest meeting scheduling datasets in the world. Their scheduling engine compares preferences and availability to find a time to meet — instantly. In 2020, x.ai’s user base grew 363% with a 182% growth in the number of meetings scheduled each month.
By integrating with x.ai’s best-in-class AI scheduling technology, Bizzabo intends to elevate event experiences for all stakeholders by making it more efficient than ever to meet and connect. Specifically, Bizzabo’s event platform will offer the following capabilities:
- Meeting Scheduler: Allow attendees to easily schedule meetings with each other, whether they’re in-person or virtual.
- Bizzabo For Exhibitors: Enable companies presenting at events with state-of-the-art meeting management technology to find and engage their most relevant customers.
- Smart Recommendations: Increase participants’ satisfaction by personalizing their event journey and proactively recommending relevant content and people to meet with.
“Personalized event experiences allow attendees to learn and share knowledge, and more importantly, build meaningful connections,” adds Ben-Shushan. “As professional events are being redefined with hybrid experiences, we wanted to find the best scheduling engine in the market to support these new generation events. And it’s not just about meetings, there is a massive demand for personalization and matchmaking at events, and x.ai will serve as the technological AI backbone to do exactly that.”
He continues, “Our goal with this acquisition is to leverage x.ai’s unique AI technology and talent to make every event of 5,000 people feel like 5,000 different experiences.”
“x.ai is an essential tool for individuals and teams across industries in more than 200 countries,” says Dennis Mortensen, CEO & founder of x.ai. “Over the last 18 months, we’ve seen many x.ai customers organically leverage our scheduling capabilities to extend the impact of their virtual and hybrid events. By joining forces with Bizzabo, we’re able to expand beyond business meetings and put the scheduling engine in the hands of even more people.”
Earlier this month, Bizzabo announced its first-ever acquisition, Whalebone, whose crowd amplification and crowd visualization technology enhances the audience, organizer and speaker experience to make events feel more interactive, exciting and human.
“We’re excited to continue reimagining what an event platform can do in the post-COVID-19 era,” said Ben-Shushan. “We’re thrilled to bring in the x.ai team as partners and provide their powerful AI scheduling engine to our customers. And we’re just getting started.”
In December 2020, Bizzabo announced a $138 million financing round to meet surging demand for its all-in-one, end-to-end events platform globally, with a focus on enhancing the attendee experience in the hybrid events market. Recently, Bizzabo earned a “Leader” recognition in The Forrester Wave(TM): B2B Marketing Events Management Solutions, Q1 2021 report.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Bizzabo’s all-in-one event software enables in-person, virtual, and hybrid events to deliver unique attendee experiences through intelligent and intent-based personalized engagement. They help companies measure, manage and scale events toward key business outcomes. The company’s platform empowers every organizer, marketer, exhibitor and attendee to unleash the power of events. As a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: B2B Marketing Events Management Solutions, Q1 2021 Report, Bizzabo is trusted by world-leading brands to power their events—from Fortune 100 enterprise organizations and financial institutions to creative agencies and scaling tech companies. Bizzabo was founded by Boaz Katz, Alon Alroy and Eran Ben-Shushan, and has more than 250 employees in its New York, Tel-Aviv and Kyiv offices. For more info, visit bizzabo.com.
Founded in 2014, x.ai is a leading productivity tool powered by artificial intelligence that schedules meetings for you and your team. x.ai automates the most tedious parts of scheduling — things like finding compatible times to meet with large groups, sending follow-ups and reminders, as well as managing cancellations and reschedule requests. For more info, visit x.ai.
