TechConnect: Bear Analytics Receives Investment from VA Venture Fund
March 3, 2022
This month’s TechConnect Profile will highlight Arlington-based Bear Analytics. Founded in 2013, Bear Analytics is leading the event revolution by powering data-driven engagement, collaboration, and innovation. Their insights-as-a-service (IaaS) platform, Bear IQ, streamlines and visualizes event data and metrics tailored for the events industry to drive action and engagement throughout the event lifecycle.
In January 2022, Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation’s (VIPC) Virginia Venture Partners announced an investment in Bear Analytics, which will be used to ramp up hiring for technical roles. Some of Bear Analytics’ clients and partners include the National Association of Home Builders, EVAreg, Intrado (now Notified), National Apartment Association, and others.
We caught up with Joe Colangelo, Founder and CEO of Bear Analytics, to discuss the company’s recent investment, the evolution of the event producers, trade associations, and professional societies in the pandemic environment, and the future growth plans for the company.
Congratulations on the recently announced investment in Bear Analytics by VIPC’s Virginia Venture Fund! Can you tell us a little more on how that investment became to be and how it will help the company expand?
Joe: Thanks very much. We were very fortunate to meet some key members of the VIPC team via introductions from other entrepreneurs. They had spoken highly of their own engagements and successes with the former CIT Gap Fund and then we had the opportunity to develop the relationship and ultimately secure the funding. This has allowed us to revamp our marketing and bring on key personnel for platform development, design, as well as, business development and marketing.
Since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago, the clients you work with in events, trade show, and conferences industry have been hit especially hard due to the inability to conduct in-person events for their customers. Can you tell us how have these industries evolved since the beginning of the pandemic and how has your technology enabled them to pivot to provide top-notch programming and events to their clients?
Joe: You are spot on – the events industry was especially hit hard due to the pandemic. Events stopped, then they went online, and now we are seeing a segment of them trying to get back in-person. The industry itself is in the middle of a massive evolution – new modalities of experience and learnings from those experiences are happening daily. The number of event and community technology platforms has jumped by hundreds since the beginning of the pandemic.
From a data standpoint, the volume and fidelity of engagement data across event content, networking, feedback, and product showcasing has skyrocketed. This has really enabled us to position Bear IQ as the universal data connector and insight engine for the event’s industry. As a result, event organizers, know their audience better, which content is over/under performing, and unlocks those valuable ROI metrics their exhibitors and sponsors crave. Our event technology platform partners can now offer and advanced analytics solution without having to take on the technical investment and support as they continue to improve and evolve their experience platforms.
What are Bear Analytics’ future plans for growth in Arlington? What are the biggest advantages to growing your business in Arlington?
Joe: We started in Arlington back in 2013, well before the growth in Arlington’s tech ecosystem and the announcement of Amazon’s HQ2 headquarters. Our team loves Arlington and the ability to take advantage of the tech community, the startup community, and are very fortunate to be a small part of a community that is looking forward to further building an environment that promotes success for its innovators and entrepreneurs. Moving forward, our plan is to keep Arlington as our center, while our team continues to grow in a distributed fashion. We’re focused on the best talent, regardless of location, but Arlington is the company’s core location due to the access to top-level tech talent and proximity to great universities.
For more information on Bear Analytics and its products and services, visit https://www.bearanalytics.com/. If you are a startup tech company looking to launch or grow your business in Northern Virginia, please visit AED's resource page and contact Adam Henry, Business Development Manager, for more information.
About this Profile Series
Arlington's startup ecosystem has been rapidly expanding over the past five years and is quickly becoming recognized as an established innovation hub in the United States. Since 2015, Arlington-based companies have raised over $1.4 billion in venture capital across 144 deals covering several industries, including software, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, fintech, big data, digital media, and more. AED launched its monthly TechConnect Profiles to highlight and profile companies in our technology startup ecosystem.