Washington, D.C.-based event software startup Social Tables has raised $13 million in a funding round led by Baltimore venture capital firm QuestMark Partners.
"The motivation is to have the funds to start down our long-term roadmap," Social Tables CMO Trevor Lynn told DC Inno in an interview. "I think a lot of people are seeing just how big the event industry is how it's growing. The funding helps us push forward in the right direction."
Social Tables raised $8 million in 2014, putting its total raised at $22.6 million. Previous investors joined the new round included Bessemer Venture Partners as well as locals like Fortify Ventures and Middleland Capital. Social Tables now has more than 4,000 customers and has been behind more than a million events since CEO Dan Berger founded the company in 2011.
"We know what we are going to do with the new funding and people know how much opportunity there is here," Lynn said. "We're still iterating on some products, building them out to their full potential.
"This is a big moment for the event industry."
Lynn explained that the new money will go to expanding the roster of engineers and completing a couple of new products that will be announced in 2017. There are 135 people at Social Tables' District office, with plenty of space for more. Lynn said he sees now as an important time for the industry as a whole, thanks in part to the $1.65 billion acquisition of Cvent by Vista Equity Partners earlier this year.
"This is a big moment for the event industry," Lynn said. "There's tons of people in our industry not using any software or just using Excel. There's tons of room to grow and [awareness] of a need. We owe a lot of thanks to Cvent for that. Everything's going to move fast."
