Meetings technology platform Cvent saw revenue exceed projections in the second quarter - thanks to a ¡°quick¡± return of in-person meetings following the Covid-19 crisis.

Cvent announced second-quarter revenue of $161 million, a quarterly record for the company and an increase of 31.1 per cent from the same three months in 2021. It was also $6.8 million above the top end of Cvent's previous guidance.?

Despite this increase in revenue, Cvent¡¯s second-quarter net loss increased to $31.5 million, compared with a net loss of $21.8 million in the same quarter of 2021, as operating expenses, including sales and marketing, research and development, and admin costs, increased year-on-year.

Reggie Aggarwal, CEO and founder of Cvent, said: ¡°Our strong second quarter growth was driven by a healthier and more dynamic events industry, where in-person events are quickly returning and interest in virtual events continues.¡±

Cvent said it would continue with its strategy of providing a three-way platform offering live, hybrid and virtual events, which the company calls its ¡°triple threat¡±.

¡°In this more complex events landscape, organisations increasingly want one platform to manage all their events ¨C whether in-person, virtual or hybrid,¡± explained Aggarwal.?

¡°Cvent gives organisations greater flexibility to pivot and adapt their programmes quickly to maximise engagement and optimise their budgets.?

¡°We believe these trends, combined with our all-in-one platform offering, helped drive our second quarter growth and further strengthens our position in the marketplace.¡±

Data from Cvent's Supplier Network, which allows users to send meeting requests for proposals (RFPs) to hotels and other vendors, ¡°shows our RFP volume has been steadily increasing since the beginning of the year,¡± said Aggarwal, during a conference call with analysts. He added that volumes had approached 2019 levels during some weeks in the quarter.

Cvent's second-quarter revenue exceeded the company¡¯s projections ¡°primarily driven by planners moving quickly to add in-person events as the pandemic eases,¡± said Cvent CFO and SVP Billy Newman during the call.?

¡°This resulted in an acceleration of our sales cycle for on-site solutions and the time between contract signing and event execution,¡± he added.

Newman said there has not been much evidence so far of a possible economic downturn affecting clients¡¯ meetings plans, which made Cvent confident about its growth prospects this year.