CHICAGO — Grip, an AI-powered event platform, has acquired Connectiv Holdings’ event management system (EMS), which powers Connectiv trade shows including Manifest, Medicarians and Blueprint.
The acquired products now form Grip’s new Manage product suite, which aims to provide users with a complete end-to-end platform on top of its existing Engage product suite. With the acquisition of Connectiv’s EMS, Grip now offers customers event registration, sponsor and exhibitor management, side event management and smart badges.
“The products we launched under the Manage portfolio were selected based on customer demand,” said Tim Groot, Grip’s founder and CEO. “We reviewed our sales calls, spoke to existing customers and surveyed our advisory board to see which products were in the highest demand. That led us to launch those products first. However, the products we launched today as part of the acquisition are just the beginning. More products will be launched in the near future.”
Grip has been integrated with Connectiv Holdings’ EMS since 2018, and according to its data, it reports that the benefits of an EMS include a 252% increase in connections made, a 226% increase in sessions joined, and a 629% increase in meetings booked when comparing events that use an EMS to those that don’t.
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According to Connectiv CEO Jay Weintraub, the company created its own EMS to have a tool that helps the team operate efficiently and create experiences that set its events apart.
“We want and expect our technology to help us make more money, but for us, revenue is the result of solving a problem that prevents others from getting the experience they want,” Weintraub said. “Our partnership with Grip began four years ago, and our teams have built deep integrations together. That partnership has certainly contributed to our industry-leading NPS scores and helped our emissions during and after the acquisition.”
Grip, who wanted the best possible solution for conference, trade show and confex event organizers, found that Connectiv’s EMS, designed for event professionals by event professionals, was the perfect fit.
“Rather than developing it (EMS) ourselves for over 36 months, we decided to find a suite of products that already solved these problems,” Groot said. “That led us to start discussions with Connectiv, who are using these tools every day to successfully solve their own large-scale event management challenges.”
Grip allows customers to choose to use its full suite of tools or select the features they want and need, meaning organizers can integrate Grip’s capabilities into their existing registration and event management products and technology stacks.
Groot said there were two things that really excited him about the deal.
“First, these products become a ‘force multiplier’ for Grip. Products like Event Registration allow us to integrate more accurate data into our system, which impacts the overall attendee experience, such as meetings and matchmaking. When better data is combined with world-class matchmaking, incredible things happen! Second, I am thrilled to see the overwhelming demand for these new products,” said Groot. “I did not expect so many large deals so quickly. Now that the announcement has been made, I have also been surprised by the large number of meetings already scheduled with customers. They have indicated that they want to use our new products as a way to increase their revenue, which is exactly what we wanted to achieve with this acquisition.”