French startups Bird Office and Kactus have merged to create a new event management tech company that aims to become a major player in the B2B sector. The merger will allow the newly-formed company to offer a complete tech solution to both larger corporate clients and smaller businesses, and will create an entity with €80m in revenue and 100 employees. As part of the merger, the companies raised €10m from investors including Eurazeo, Raise and BNP Paribas Développement.
Bird Office, founded by Arnaud Katz in 2014, and Kactus, founded in 2015 by Anne-Sara Budow-niczy and Thomas Cottin, both operate B2B marketplaces that allow companies to book venues for meetings and seminars. The companies have a combined total of 10,000 regular corporate clients and have secured 30 framework contracts, including eight with companies on the CAC 40, such as Danone, ENGIE and Bouygues.
With the merger and the injection of funds, Bird Office and Kactus aim to become the leading player in the French and European event management markets. The companies also plan to hire around 15 new employees within the next 12 months. This merger is another example of the consolidation trend currently taking place in the tech industry, as companies look to gain scale and increase their market share. The newly-formed company will have to compete against other players in the market such as Spacebase, which has raised €11m in funding, and Gaest, which was acquired by Airbnb in 2019.
