Hubilo’s story is one of exceptional speed and exceptional risk. In December 2015, two engineering students from Ahmedabad—Vaibhav Jain and Mayank Agarwal—launched a networking platform for physical event attendees. By 2021, after pivoting to virtual events during COVID-19, the company had raised $153 million across four rounds and was valued in the hundreds of millions. By September 2025, Hubilo was acquired by Brandlive, a US-based video events platform, in an undisclosed but presumably nine-figure deal. The acquisition marked the end of Hubilo’s independent journey and the consolidation of the event-tech ecosystem.
What makes Hubilo’s arc remarkable is not just the speed of growth or the exits, but the tactical pivots required to sustain that growth. Hubilo wasn’t born a virtual events company; it became one when COVID-19 forced every in-person event onto Zoom. The company that thrived in the pandemic faced headwinds in the recovery as event organizers returned to hybrid and in-person formats, creating pressure on growth and margins. The Brandlive acquisition, announced in September 2025, represents a consolidation play: Brandlive gains Hubilo’s R&D hub in Bengaluru, customer relationships, and product suite; Hubilo’s founders, investors, and employees exit with liquidity. For the Indian startup ecosystem, Hubilo’s exit underscores both the opportunity and the challenge of building category-defining startups in fast-moving, capital-intensive markets.
Quick Facts
| Metric | Details |
|---|---|
| Founding Year | 2015 |
| Founders | Vaibhav Jain (CEO) & Mayank Agarwal (CTO) |
| Headquarters | Ahmedabad, Gujarat (later San Francisco post-acquisition) |
| Total Funding Raised | $153.11 million (4 rounds) |
| Seed (Oct 2020) | $4.5 million from Lightspeed India Partners |
| Series A (Feb 2021) | $23.5 million from Lightspeed, Balderton Capital |
| Series B (Oct 2021) | $125 million from Alkeon Capital, Lightspeed, Balderton |
| Revenue FY25 | ₹33.7 crore (≈ $4.0M at ₹84/USD), -9.6% YoY from ₹37.3 Cr FY24 |
| Peak ARR (2021) | $10+ million (claimed post-Series A) |
| Business Model | SaaS; webinar, virtual, and hybrid event platform |
| Acquisition | September 16, 2025 by Brandlive (Portland, OR) |
What is Hubilo?
Hubilo is a cloud-based event management and webinar platform that helps marketers, event organizers, and enterprises create, promote, and manage virtual, hybrid, and in-person events. The platform provides tools for attendee engagement (chat, polls, Q&A, virtual booths), analytics (engagement metrics, attendee tracking), and production (studio broadcasting, content management).
Post-acquisition by Brandlive in September 2025, Hubilo is being integrated into Brandlive’s Virtual PRO platform, an enterprise video and events platform. Brandlive positions the combined product as an AI-powered solution for webinars, conferences, and large-scale virtual experiences.
The Origin Story
Vaibhav Jain and Mayank Agarwal met while studying engineering in Ahmedabad between 2009-2013. Jain had an entrepreneurial mindset and business acumen; Agarwal was a talented software engineer. After graduation, they worked together in the event-tech space and identified a problem: event organizers struggled to measure ROI and engagement at physical events, particularly the networking experiences attendees supposedly valued.
In 2015, they founded Hubilo to build a software platform that could digitize event experiences—capturing attendee data, enabling real-time engagement, and providing analytics to event organizers. Initially, the product was aimed at the post-event networking experience: aggregating attendee contact details, facilitating introductions, and providing organizers with engagement metrics.
The initial traction was modest. Hubilo operated in a niche (event tech), served primarily Tier-1 Indian event organizers, and competed against custom-built solutions and international players like Splash (later acquired by ON24). By 2019, Hubilo had achieved ₹8 crore in annual revenue but was not yet venture-backed.
The Struggle Years (2015-2020)
For its first five years, Hubilo was a bootstrap-scale business. The market opportunity was large (event tech is a global multi-billion-dollar category), but customer acquisition was slow and enterprise sales cycles were long (6-12 months). The company operated profitably at a small scale but lacked the capital to scale sales, product development, or geographic expansion.
Market Dynamics: Event organizers (conference organizers, corporate events teams) are price-sensitive and risk-averse. Switching from an existing solution (even a manual one) involves retraining, integration, and vendor lock-in concerns. Hubilo’s value proposition—”measure engagement at your event”—was real but not urgent enough to justify capital spend for many customers.
Competition and Consolidation: The event-tech space was fragmenting. Companies like Splash (offering attendee experiences), ON24 (webinar platform), and Eventbrite (ticketing and discovery) were raising venture capital and expanding aggressively. Hubilo was a micro-player in comparison.
Capital Constraint: To scale, Hubilo needed venture funding, but the company wasn’t yet visible to VCs. Most venture firms were focused on consumer apps or enterprise SaaS with clearer scale dynamics (e.g., Zoho, Freshdesk, Postman).
The Turning Point (COVID-19 Pivot, 2020-2021)
In March 2020, COVID-19 lockdowns forced the cancellation or postponement of all physical events. Within days, the event-tech market pivoted to virtual. Companies rushed to host conferences, seminars, and webinars on Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. But these general-purpose video platforms lacked event-specific features: virtual booths, networking lounges, sponsorship integration, engagement analytics.
Hubilo quickly pivoted its product. Rather than building tools for post-event networking analysis, the company built a comprehensive webinar and virtual event platform. Within 20-25 days, an MVP was ready and pitched to a potential customer: Tessarakt Experiential, a creative event production company.
The product resonated. Tessarakt, unable to produce physical events, needed to pivot to virtual events and needed a tool that looked and felt professional. Hubilo provided that. With this initial customer and proof of product-market fit, Hubilo approached venture investors.
Series Seed (October 2020): $4.5 million
Lightspeed India Partners led a seed round, valuing Hubilo at approximately $20 million. The thesis was clear: virtual events were here to stay (regardless of post-COVID recovery), and Hubilo had a working product, initial traction, and a founder team with deep domain knowledge.
Series A (February 2021): $23.5 million
By early 2021, Hubilo had achieved $10 million in ARR (annual recurring revenue), a milestone typically reserved for SaaS companies that have scaled for 7-10 years. Hubilo achieved it in 7-8 months. Series A investors (Lightspeed, Balderton Capital) doubled down. The round valued Hubilo at approximately $80-100 million.
Series B (October 2021): $125 million
In October 2021, Alkeon Capital led a massive Series B, with existing investors Lightspeed and Balderton participating. The $125 million round valued Hubilo at over $400 million (implied post-money), making it a unicorn-in-the-making. The capital was intended to fund team expansion (particularly in Go-To-Market), product development, and geographic expansion.
This rapid progression—from bootstrap to Series B in 18 months, with $153 million raised—was extraordinary. Hubilo had captured the zeitgeist: virtual events were booming, and enterprises needed a specialized platform.
Business Model & Revenue Streams
SaaS Subscription Model: Hubilo operates on a per-user, per-event, or tiered subscription model. Customers pay monthly or annually for access to the platform, with pricing scaling based on attendee count, feature set, and support tier.
Revenue Breakdown (company-stated, 2021-2022):
- Europe & Middle East: 45% of revenue (largest segment)
- United States: 30-32% of revenue
- India: ~12% of revenue
- Other: ~11%
Customer Base (2021-2022, peak): United Nations, Roche, Informa Markets, Tech In Asia, Fortune Magazine, GITEX Technology Week, and thousands of mid-market event organizers and corporate training teams.
Unit Economics (estimated, as of FY24-FY25): Average revenue per user (ARPU) estimated at $15K-25K annually (for mid-market customers); gross margin 70-75% (typical for SaaS). However, with FY25 revenue at ₹33.7 Cr (~$4M) and declining YoY, unit economics have likely compressed as customers churn or downgrade post-pandemic.
The Funding Journey
Bootstrap Era (2015-2020): Hubilo was self-funded or funded by friends-and-family angels. No disclosed institutional funding until 2020.
Seed (October 2020): $4.5M from Lightspeed India Partners.
Series A (February 2021): $23.5M from Lightspeed Venture Partners (existing lead), Balderton Capital, and others.
Series B (October 2021): $125M from Alkeon Capital (lead), Lightspeed, Balderton Capital. Implied valuation: $400M+.
Total Funding: $153.11 million (4 rounds) per Inc42 and YourStory.
Secondary Market Activity: Likely secondary sales and employee stock buybacks in 2023-2024, though details not publicly disclosed.
Acquisition (September 16, 2025): Acquired by Brandlive (Portland, OR) in an undisclosed all-stock or mixed deal. Brandlive described the acquisition as its fifth in 18 months, suggesting Hubilo was acquired at a valuation below its peak $400M+ valuation (likely $200-300M range, but unconfirmed).
The Numbers
Revenue Trajectory:
| Period | Revenue | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FY19 (pre-COVID) | ₹8 crore | Bootstrap era, modest growth. |
| FY21 (post-pivot) | $10M+ ARR (claimed) | Explosive pandemic-driven growth; Series A achieved in Feb 2021. |
| FY24 | ₹37.3 crore (~$4.4M) | Post-pandemic normalization; slower growth. |
| FY25 | ₹33.7 crore (~$4.0M) | -9.6% YoY; contraction reflects market headwinds. |
Key Insight: Hubilo’s peak revenue appears to have been ₹37.3 Cr in FY24. The FY25 decline of 9.6% signals customer churn or downgrades as the post-pandemic event boom cooled. This trajectory—explosive growth in 2021, plateauing in 2023-2024—is typical for pandemic-beneficiary SaaS companies.
Segment Split & Customer Base
By Geography (2021-2022, peak):
- EMEA (Europe, Middle East): 45% revenue (strongest market)
- North America: 30-32%
- India: ~12%
- APAC (excl. India): ~11%
By Customer Type:
- Enterprise (Fortune 500, UN, government): ~25% revenue (lower volume, high contract value)
- Mid-market (500-5000 person organizations): ~50% revenue
- SMB and Long-tail: ~25% revenue
Customer Concentration Risk: High. A single large customer (e.g., Informa Markets) could represent 3-5% of ARR. Loss of a major customer could significantly impact revenue and growth. This is typical for B2B SaaS but a risk factor for investor confidence.
Risks & Headwinds
Market Saturation and Competition: The event-tech market is crowded. ON24 (webinar platform, acquired by Everbridge in 2023), Cvent (enterprise events platform, Apptio subsidiary), Eventbrite (ticketing), Splash, and dozens of smaller competitors offer overlapping functionality. Differentiation on engagement, analytics, or AI features is difficult and requires continuous R&D investment.
Macro Headwind: Normalization of Events: Post-pandemic, enterprises returned to in-person and hybrid event formats, reducing the urgency of virtual-event-specific tools. While virtual events remain common, they’re no longer growth drivers; they’re becoming commoditized.
Customer Acquisition Economics: Enterprise event software sales involve long sales cycles (6-12 months), high customer acquisition costs (CAC $50K-200K+), and require dedicated enterprise sales teams. Scaling profitably in this model is challenging without significant revenue scale.
Feature Parity with Incumbents: Competitors like ON24 and Cvent have deeper integration ecosystems, more established customer relationships, and larger R&D budgets. Hubilo’s differentiation (e.g., engagement analytics, virtual booths, India R&D hub) is real but not insurmountable.
Customer Churn: FY25 revenue declined YoY, likely due to customer churn and downgrades. If churn continues, growth becomes negative, and venture investors view the business as mature or declining.
The Takeaway
Hubilo’s acquisition by Brandlive in September 2025 marks the end of a remarkable but ultimately fleeting journey. The company achieved legendary growth rates (from $0 to $10M ARR in 7 months), commanded a $400M+ valuation at its peak, and became a darling of the venture capital community during the 2021 funding boom.
However, Hubilo was fundamentally a pandemic-era story. Its explosive growth was enabled by an unprecedented shift to remote work and virtual events. As normalization occurred, the tailwinds faded. The company faced competition from larger incumbents, market saturation, and declining growth. Rather than fight for independent scaling, the founders likely accepted an acquisition offer from Brandlive.
For Indian venture capital, Hubilo is a case study in both the opportunity and the risk of timing-dependent markets. Exceptional founders and execution can still result in a suboptimal outcome if the underlying market shifts unexpectedly.
For Brandlive, the acquisition provides a complementary product suite, a customer base, and a proven R&D hub in Bengaluru (30 engineers with expertise in virtual events and AI). For Hubilo’s employees, the acquisition likely provided meaningful liquidity. For its investors, the exit valuation—while undisclosed—is likely below the $400M+ peak but potentially acceptable given the market dynamics.
FAQ
Q: Why did Hubilo get acquired when it had raised $153 million and achieved $400M+ valuation?
A: Hubilo faced macro headwinds (normalization of events), increasing competition, and likely declining growth. Continuing as an independent company would require ongoing capital raises and aggressive scaling efforts (particularly enterprise sales) with uncertain returns. An acquisition by a larger platform (Brandlive) provided liquidity, integration with a complementary product, and exit certainty.
Q: What happens to Hubilo customers after the Brandlive acquisition?
A: Hubilo customers are being migrated to Brandlive’s Virtual PRO platform. This involves product integration, data migration, and customer support during transition. Some churn is typical in post-M&A customer migrations.
Q: Did Hubilo achieve profitability before the acquisition?
A: Not disclosed. Given the $153M in funding and FY25 revenue at ₹33.7 Cr (~$4M), Hubilo was likely not profitable on a GAAP basis. However, the company may have been approaching or achieving unit-level profitability (positive gross margin, moderate sales efficiency). The acquisition likely provided exit liquidity before profitability became critical.
Q: Is the virtual events market still viable for independent startups?
A: Yes, but with caveats. Virtual and hybrid events are established categories. However, competitive intensity is high, and differentiation is difficult. New entrants would need strong defensibility (e.g., AI, vertical specialization, platform network effects) or a niche focus to succeed independently.
Q: What about Hubilo’s R&D hub in Bengaluru? What’s Brandlive’s plan?
A: Brandlive explicitly noted that the Hubilo acquisition included a 30-person R&D hub in Bengaluru with expertise in virtual events, AI, and large-scale event platforms. Brandlive plans to maintain and grow this hub, leveraging it for product development and serving APAC customers.
Sources & FX Notes
FX conversion: ₹84/USD (Sep 2026 mid-market). Funding data from Inc42, YourStory, PYMNTS, PR Newswire, multiple sources (2020-2021). FY24-FY25 revenue from Inc42 company profile. Peak ARR figures from Inc42 article “How Virtual Events Startup Hubilo Went From Zero To $10 Mn ARR Amid Covid Crisis” (2021). Customer list and geographic breakdown from 2021 media coverage. Acquisition announcement from Brandlive press release and GlobeNewswire (September 16, 2025). Competition and market analysis from on24.com, reviews.financesonline.com, and market.us AI in Event Management report.
