etouches announces the acquisition of Loopd, leading onsite data-driven technology

Norwalk, CT – March 2, 2017 – etouches, a top global provider of cloud event management software, today announces the acquisition of Loopd, an enterprise SaaS start-up that enhances attendee experience through data-driven technology. This acquisition complements etouches recent pivot to a data-driven approach to enhancing clients’ event success, and further positions etouches as a full enterprise solution.

Loopd’s innovative and subscription-based platform offers event planners and marketers the intelligence to help them build more effective strategies through a combination of onsite technology and an analytics engine. Offering the event industry’s only bi-directional CRM solution, Loopd is unique in enabling the exchange of content and contact information passively and actively. The product is broken down into three tightly integrated components:

• Exclusive bi-directional wearable smart badges
• Powerful mobile event apps for iOS and Android
• Dashboard enabled in-browser analytics engine

“After the development of our in-house event performance and ROI solution, Loopd was the logical choice to help continue our journey to offer clients data-driven technology to enhance their events in real-time,” said Shane Edmonds, CTO of etouches. “Once integrated into the etouches platform, Loopd’s technology will provide our clients remarkable insights into their event and business goals, as well as elevate the onsite experiences of their attendees.”

An award-winning product, Loopd differentiates itself from competitors by focusing on the user experience and design, helping to drive engagement further at events. The product’s flexibility is also one of its admirable qualities, making it easy to configure the onsite set up of data collection, session tracking or data and contact exchanges. The solution will be integrated over the next few months into etouches existing platform and event performance solution, offering clients the most robust product on the market for event engagement and benchmarking.

“Data is the future of events, so it is critical as an organization that we are able to provide our customers with the most advanced solutions in the industry to increase the impact of their events,” said Oni Chukwu, CEO of etouches. “The Loopd team has been able to create a product that greatly surpasses competitors in terms of innovation, user experience and overall effectiveness. Adding this solution to etouches not only enhances the product itself, but increases our position as a company that is constantly innovating.”

The Silicon Valley based company was founded in 2013 by Brian Friedman, a Millennial entrepreneur who wanted to change the way that engagement and networking happened at events. Raising over $2.5 million from international angel and seed fund investors, like Salesforce CEO and founder Marc Benioff and venture capitalist Tim Draper, Loopd has created a unique product that meets the needs of event planners today.

As part of the acquisition, Friedman will join the etouches team as Director of Product for Mobile, Data and Engagement. He will lead product direction at etouches, creating product roadmaps, developing user experience systems, and managing all technical and design teams for mobile, data and engagement products. The remainder of the Loopd team, including co-founders Sambhav Galada and Allen Houng, will also join etouches and the company will continue to grow the workforce.

“I couldn’t think of a better synergy for our experiential data-driven technology than etouches,” said Brian Friedman, co-founder and CEO of Loopd. “At Loopd, our goal was to prove ROI to attendees, partners and event marketers by using the latest advancements in technology. The mission and culture at etouches is a natural fit for Loopd, and together we will bring mission-critical insights to the world through leading onsite technology.”

About etouches
etouches is a global end-to-end event management software solution. The success oriented and cloud-based platform delivers innovative technology solutions to streamline the event process and increase ROI. Founded in 2008, etouches has assisted over 25,000 event professionals in planning, executing and measuring their events. With a focus on event sourcing, registration, marketing, logistics, engagement, mobile and data, the software platform serves more than 1,300 customers including leading corporations, associations, agencies and educational institutions globally. Headquartered in the United States in Norwalk, CT, the company also has offices in Orlando, Florida and five global offices in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia, UAE, and Singapore.

About Loopd Inc.
Loopd Inc. provides physical intelligence to corporate events. We help corporate marketers learn how people interact with each other, with the company, and with the company’s products. The Loopd relational analytics solution is the industry’s only bi-directional solution that enables the exchange of content and contact information automatically while gathering rich analytics data so that marketers have a more sophisticated understanding of their most valuable business relationships. To learn more, visit Loopd.com.