When Stan Liberatore needed his annual health care conference to be virtual, instead of perusing the typical avenues of Zoom and Microsoft Teams, he built his own company.
His conference, Disrupt the Bay, brings health care professionals and startups in the space under one roof at the University of South Florida each spring. But in May 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was in full swing, Liberatore turned to other options.
"The big thing was our conference was set for August, and we didn't have a solution for running the conference," he said. "One of my board members was really hung up on going virtual and was excited about the virtual event management industry. He said, 'Let's do it virtually,' so we spun up a company to accelerate Disrupt the Bay and then [pivoted to] run our own events."
Vsummits was launched in May 2020 with a specific focus on health care and nonprofits, as seen at Disrupt the Bay.
"We’re more or less an events management company; there are tons of tools we can use and now we’re kind of dabbling around, creating a bit more features on our platform so we can have something that's truly separate from the rest of the pack since they're all kind of the same," Liberatore said. "We’re working on making it a bit more seamless and gamifying the event to get a more exciting experience."
Some of those experiences included creating a scavenger hunt throughout the platform, and a "hold 'em" game where event attendees can collect virtual playing cards that result in a prize at the end of the event. The company also offers a concierge-type service and can help with ticketing systems, videography, advertising and sponsorship acquisition.
"It's just something we put out there in the pre-sales process — not every customer is the same and we find ourselves always offering services a la carte," Liberatore said. "A lot of nonprofits don't have marketing teams, and some health care systems don't have 10 people in their marketing department — they might have two or three. So, we’re an extension of that."
The company has had roughly 12 larger events completed while helping host smaller meetups each week. While it has a focus on health care and nonprofits, its platform can be used in any industry. While some companies are returning to in-person events, Liberatore believes the hybrid model of offering both online and in-person options is here to stay.
"It's hard because you have half the population that wants to go back — everyone talks about wanting to go back, but the fact of the matter is, it's just not," he said. "And with the work from home model and everyone that's embraced this new normal, whatever that is, why don't you just cater to them? Because they won’t leave their home and they don't have to."
Vsummits has 14 employees and had an initial pre-seed of $250,000. Liberatore is currently working on another raise slated for $2.5 million.
"Yes, Zoom and Teams and those platforms offer a solution for one-on-one meetings or small meetings and they have the majority of the market share," Liberatore said. "And I don't think they're going anywhere; I don't tell our clients to get rid of them. But, if you're trying to provide an event, raise some funds for a nonprofit, or sell tickets for products or sponsors, we would be a better solution. And they realize that."
