Johnny Boufarhat had just graduated from university and on his way to a career as an engineer in IoT when he became suddenly and inexplicably ill. A visit to the doctor and several tests later, Boufarhat learned he had an autoimmune disease that would prevent him from venturing out into crowded spaces. Frustrated by his inability to network at conferences and live events, he turned to live streams, but they lacked community.
“Our goal was to build essentially a venue for someone like Procter and Gamble to have the ability to have a stage, a networking area, perhaps areas with different booths, and really be able to customize it to their liking so that it’s super accessible for anyone from anywhere,” Boufarhat, founder of live events platform HopIn, told P&G Signal’s Stan Joosten. “The mission of the company until today is making the world feel smaller.”
Last year, as all live events went in search of a platform to host virtual versions, HopIn became the go-to for events from the New York Jets to the United Nations, along with many a major media company and global corporation, such as P&G. By November 2020, it had achieved unicorn status, valued at more than $2 billion.
Learn more about HopIn’s story in the Startup Spotlight conversation below — and reserve your spot now for Signal 2021 on the HopIn platform!
