Bizly Acquires Kapow in Equity Deal

Corporate meetings and event platform Bizly has acquired group dining platform Kapow, Bizly confirmed to BTN. 

Kapow, founded in 2010, was a startup standout in Chicago. It was acquired by Cvent in 2018, then sold during the pandemic to Hello Destination Management. Kapow currently holds agreements with about 20,000 venues and vendors in more than 33,200 locations; the platform packages endeavors other than dining, like retail and sporting activities. 

Bizly acquired Kapow in an equity-based deal, with Hello gaining a stake in Bizly, according to CEO Ron Shah. Additional financial terms were undisclosed.

Bizly has a previous pedigree with group dining options, albeit with a smaller footprint of restaurants and often through partnerships. The meetings platform in 2018 collaborated with both Dinova and Tripleseat to offer group dining bookings. Owning a broader platform and integrating it into the Bizly workflows will expand user access to networked restaurants, venues and package capabilities. 

"We evaluated multiple strategic directions for Kapow and ultimately concluded that Bizly had the best vision and execution to carry on the company’s legacy," said Hello Destination Management CEO Paul Mears in a statement.

According to Shah, group dining and smaller offsite get-togethers have become the true centerpieces of meetings travel. The Kapow acquisition, he said, puts Bizly in the position to serve that shifting focus. 

“People attend events not just for content but to build real relationships,” Shah said in a statement. “The most meaningful moments often happen in the private dinners, happy hours and intimate gatherings that occur around these larger events. Kapow created the best platform for booking these experiences.”

Bizly also is looking to solve a challenge in corporate spending on group dining and small offsites, which can fall out of visibility on corporate cards or other spend mechanisms. According to the company, the Kapow marketplace will be fully integrated into the core platform by the third quarter of this year, enabling companies to track and control costs within the Bizly workflow. Existing Bizly customers will gain access to Kapow’s venues in a phased rollout.