Meetings technology platform Cvent saw revenue exceed projections in the second quarter - thanks to a “quick” return of in-person meetings following the Covid-19 crisis.
Cvent announced second-quarter revenue of $161 million, a quarterly record for the company and an increase of 31.1 per cent from the same three months in 2021. It was also $6.8 million above the top end of Cvent's previous guidance.
Despite this increase in revenue, Cvent’s second-quarter net loss increased to $31.5 million, compared with a net loss of $21.8 million in the same quarter of 2021, as operating expenses, including sales and marketing, research and development, and admin costs, increased year-on-year.
Reggie Aggarwal, CEO and founder of Cvent, said: “Our strong second quarter growth was driven by a healthier and more dynamic events industry, where in-person events are quickly returning and interest in virtual events continues.”
Cvent said it would continue with its strategy of providing a three-way platform offering live, hybrid and virtual events, which the company calls its “triple threat”.
“In this more complex events landscape, organisations increasingly want one platform to manage all their events – whether in-person, virtual or hybrid,” explained Aggarwal.
“Cvent gives organisations greater flexibility to pivot and adapt their programmes quickly to maximise engagement and optimise their budgets.
“We believe these trends, combined with our all-in-one platform offering, helped drive our second quarter growth and further strengthens our position in the marketplace.”
Data from Cvent's Supplier Network, which allows users to send meeting requests for proposals (RFPs) to hotels and other vendors, “shows our RFP volume has been steadily increasing since the beginning of the year,” said Aggarwal, during a conference call with analysts. He added that volumes had approached 2019 levels during some weeks in the quarter.
Cvent's second-quarter revenue exceeded the company’s projections “primarily driven by planners moving quickly to add in-person events as the pandemic eases,” said Cvent CFO and SVP Billy Newman during the call.
“This resulted in an acceleration of our sales cycle for on-site solutions and the time between contract signing and event execution,” he added.
Newman said there has not been much evidence so far of a possible economic downturn affecting clients’ meetings plans, which made Cvent confident about its growth prospects this year.