Hybrid Event Technology Company MeetingPlay Raises $75 Million Growth Equity Investment From Sunstone Partners

Partnership will accelerate innovative product development to expand MeetingPlay’s market leadership position in delivering hybrid and virtual events at scale

FREDERICK, Md. & SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MeetingPlay, a pioneer in hybrid event technology, has received a $75 million investment from Sunstone Partners, a growth-oriented private equity firm focused on software and tech-enabled services companies.

MeetingPlay offers a full suite of offerings for all types of conferences, events and meetings that allow for rich attendee experiences. The company believes that successful meetings and events are built upon meaningful connections formed during all phases of a hybrid, virtual or in-person event. The ultimate value that underpins the company’s software platform is connecting attendees to each other—as well as the meeting content—in a way that creates a unique and differentiated event, uplifting MeetingPlay’s client brands accordingly.

The company’s proprietary software platform sets new standards for attendee engagement, event attendance, customized virtual environments and broadcast-quality programming. The company is emerging as a market leader offering a truly distinctive experience. As a result, MeetingPlay has become the event platform of choice for numerous market-leading companies such as Marriott International, Databricks and Autodesk, among many more. MeetingPlay’s deep commitment to partnering with customers to achieve their goals and solve their pain points is shared across the entire organization with high-level service and innovation.

Through the partnership with Sunstone, MeetingPlay is now positioned to execute on an aggressive growth strategy by fueling the development of innovative products, expanding its delivery capabilities and enhancing its go-to-market strategies to continue to provide market-leading customer experiences.

“Even with unprecedented YOY growth, we’re just getting started,” said MeetingPlay Co-CEO Joe Schwinger. “Sunstone’s investment strategy, which puts people and innovation first, will help us grow our product offerings and enable our customers to deliver even more exciting, on-brand and transformative events. We knew early on that Sunstone shared our vision, stressing their desire to preserve our unique culture and strong emphasis on exceptional customer service. We look forward to working with them during this next phase of growth and innovation.”

Sunstone Co-Founder and Managing Director, Michael Biggee, said, “We are thrilled to welcome MeetingPlay to our portfolio of high-growth technology companies. It only takes experiencing one MeetingPlay event to see why top companies and brands are lining up to work with them. MeetingPlay delivers unparalleled digital experiences that blend personalization, networking, content and unprecedented engagement that are scalable to support audiences of 100,000 or more. We couldn’t be more delighted to partner with MeetingPlay on their exciting future.”

Transaction terms were not disclosed. Mirus Capital Advisors served as exclusive financial advisor to MeetingPlay on the Sunstone investment. Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP acted as Sunstone’s legal counsel.

About Sunstone Partners

Sunstone Partners is a growth-oriented private equity firm that makes majority and minority investments in software and technology-enabled services businesses. Recently recognized as one of Inc.’s 2020 PE 50 founder-friendly private equity firms for entrepreneurs, the firm seeks to partner with exceptional management teams, often as their first institutional capital partner, to help accelerate organic growth and fund acquisitions. Founded in 2015, the firm has $800 million of committed capital to its first two funds. For more information, visit www.sunstonepartners.com

About MeetingPlay

Founded in 2012 by Co-CEOs Joe Schwinger and Lisa Vann, MeetingPlay is an award-winning technology company focused on creating innovative solutions for in-person, virtual and hybrid events. With every meeting and event, MeetingPlay creates transformative experiences that enable their customers, attendees and sponsors to make valuable, face-to-face connections. Fortune 500 companies entrust MeetingPlay to solve their biggest event challenges. For more information, visit www.meetingplay.com.