https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/02/bizzabo-raises-138m-for-a-platform-that-helps-you-build-and-run-virtual-conferences/ > Conferences have — for better or worse (and if you’ve ever been trapped in a cavernous CES exhibition hall, you might say worse) — become a significant cornerstone of how industries engage with their audiences, whether they are comics superfans, or iOS developers, or insurance brokers. This year has undoubtedly seen a huge shift in how those conferences exist. The Covid-19 health pandemic has drastically curtailed travel and how people spend time in crowded places, decimating the wider event industry, estimated to be worth more than $1 trillion annually before Covid, in its wake. > Today, however, comes news of a significant round of funding for a startup that is showing one way out of the mess. Bizzabo, which provides a platform to plan and run both virtual and in-person conferences, from its earliest stages of conception and handling sponsorships, through to managing interactions between attendees, and provisioning the conference itself, has closed a round of $138 million — funding it will use to drive the growth of its business, said CEO Eran Ben-Shushan (who co-founded the company with Alon Alroy and Boaz Katz) in an interview, after seeing that business boom this year, running conferences for large businesses and event planners. (Its customers include companies like Uber, Gainsight, Github, WeWork, Accenture and actually — disclosure –TechCrunch.)