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§ Private Profile · Beverly, MA, USA
The Vendry is a technology company.
The Vendry operates as a specialized digital marketplace and professional community platform meticulously designed for the global events industry. It provides a centralized ecosystem where event organizers, agencies, and companies can efficiently discover and source a wide array of venues, vendors, and creative inspiration. The platform streamlines the event planning process by enabling users to browse professional portfolios, connect with service providers, and explore successful event examples.
Daphne Earp Hoppenot founded The Vendry in 2018, identifying a significant gap in the market for a dedicated digital infrastructure to support event professionals. Her insight stemmed from the need for an "events town square," a singular online destination where industry participants could connect, collaborate, and access resources previously fragmented across various channels. Hoppenot’s vision was to empower the community through better tools and access.
The platform serves a diverse clientele of companies and event professionals, from those planning large-scale corporate functions to bespoke brand activations. The Vendry's core mission is to modernize and enhance the event creation process by fostering seamless connections and providing a robust environment for discovery and professional growth. It aims to be the go-to resource for individuals and organizations striving to produce impactful events and expand their industry footprint.
The Vendry has raised $7.0M across 1 funding round.
The Vendry has raised $7.0M in total across 1 funding round.
The Vendry is a digital marketplace and professional community platform for the events industry, enabling corporate event planners to source venues, vendors, agencies, and inspiration while connecting with peers through networking tools, RFP capabilities, and a jobs board.[1][2][3][5][6] It serves event professionals at major organizations like Bloomberg, NBC, Salesforce, and AmexGBT, solving fragmented discovery and sourcing challenges in event planning by aggregating over 1,000,000 data points on global venues and vendors, enhanced by community feedback and AI-powered search.[1][3] With 150,000-190,000 monthly users pre-acquisition, The Vendry raised $6.5 million in 2021 and debuted key features like a venue search platform and networking group in 2022; it was acquired by Groupize in July 2024 and now operates as The Vendry by Groupize, integrating into a larger meetings management ecosystem with over 190,000 hotels and 70,000+ additional venues.[1][2]
Founded in 2018 by Daphne Hoppenot in Brooklyn, New York, The Vendry emerged from Hoppenot's observation of outdated websites in the events industry, which lacked proper visual portfolios and individual credits for professionals—much like an "IMDb for event pros."[4] After raising $2 million in venture capital by April 2019, Hoppenot assembled a four-person team to launch the platform as a professional marketplace.[4] A pivotal pandemic pivot in early 2020 proved crucial: as live events halted, the team introduced "Credits and Pro Profiles" weeks before COVID-19 hit, then added a virtual/digital offerings marketplace and networking features like job postings and discussion boards, doubling growth rates.[1][4] This resilience led to $6.5 million in 2021 funding, product launches in 2022, and enhancements like a Chrome extension and upgraded search engine in October 2023.[1][2][3]
The Vendry rides the resurgence of corporate events and meetings post-pandemic, capitalizing on hybrid work trends and the $1.5 trillion global events industry where planners demand efficient, data-rich sourcing amid venue shortages and rising costs.[1][4] Its timing aligns with AI advancements in procurement—evident in its search engine and Groupize integration—addressing pain points like fragmented vendor discovery in a market favoring self-service platforms over traditional brokers.[2][3] By democratizing access to 70,000+ independent vendors and community-vetted insights, it influences the ecosystem through feedback loops that elevate smaller players, accelerates planner productivity for enterprises, and supports Groupize's push for end-to-end meetings management, potentially standardizing AI-driven event tech globally.[1][2]
Post-acquisition, The Vendry will fully integrate its AI search and marketplace into Groupize by late 2024 or early 2025, expanding to a unified platform with founder Daphne Hoppenot advising strategically while CEO Alisa de Gaspe Beaubien drives growth.[1][2] Rising demand for experiential corporate events, AI personalization, and sustainability-focused venues will propel it, alongside trends like VR previews and global expansion. Its influence may evolve from niche community to core infrastructure for meetings tech, empowering planners at scale and setting a benchmark for community-powered marketplaces in fragmented industries—reinforcing its origin as the modern hub where great events become team efforts.[1][6]
The Vendry has raised $7.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $7.0M Seed in September 2021.
The Vendry has raised $7.0M in total across 1 funding round.
The Vendry's investors include 2048 Ventures, Accomplice VC, AME Cloud Ventures, Authentic Ventures, BoxGroup, Broadway Angels, Chemistry VC, Company Capital, CRV, DFJ, Footwork, Gigafund.