VirBELA recently announced exponential growth and momentum in the second quarter of 2020.
Backed by a billion-dollar public parent company, eXp World Holdings, VirBELA saw a 260 percent increase in revenue in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the first quarter of 2020, more than a five times increase in monthly active users and six times increase in new users.
In addition, VirBELA has grown from 20 to 105 employees in the first half of 2020 and introduced several new product features to meet a demand surge from organizations looking to scale their business in an increasingly remote world.
“VirBELA was developed to revolutionize the way people learn and collaborate together, while apart,” says Alex Howland, VirBELA president and co-founder. “While we never could have predicted the COVID-19 pandemic, now more than ever, there is a crucial need for a solution that is going to enable organizations worldwide to bring together remote teams in virtual settings to learn, work and socialize. This moment in time will forever alter how we approach connection and aspects of life moving forward, and VirBELA is at the forefront.”
Work, education and events are all thriving in virtual worlds
Since the start of the pandemic, VirBELA has seen an increase in demand for virtual events and collaborative spaces for remote teams, and, as a result, introduced several new products and features, including:
- Expo Hall – VirBELA’s Expo Hall is a modern business meeting and event facility that gives event attendees an impressive 3D virtual experience, complete with a lobby, socialization space and exhibitor floor.
- Concert Stage for Virtual Entertainment – In partnership with Event Farm, VirBELA added multiple music stages to host a wide variety of social events like comedy shows and concerts.
- VR Support – VirBELA has early VR support, and users with an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive can now access the platform.
- Screen Sharing and Video Chat – Users can now easily share a webcam or screen without the use of third-party applications, which gives users an opportunity to speak or give presentations “face to face” on VirBELA.
With more employees working from home full time, companies are turning to VirBELA to build their own virtual campuses and office spaces to help teams connect and build community. HTC recently partnered with VirBELA to introduce a new virtual environment called VIVE Campus, which will be part of their new XR Suite—an integrated application bundle that enables users to work, learn, socialize and attend events virtually.
In the events space, businesses and event organizers are eager to find alternative solutions that provide the human connection and spontaneous social interaction one gets with in-person events. Bordeaux Geekfest, iLRN and Laval Virtual have all turned to VirBELA to host large-scale industry events, each with more than 1,000 attendees, in the second quarter.
Colleges and universities such as Stanford Graduate School of Business (Stanford LEAD), Arizona State University, Davenport University and EGADE Business School in Mexico are also turning to VirBELA this back-to-school season to create their own virtual learning experiences. This includes public spaces for student interaction, private offices for professors to meet with students one-on-one, board rooms for classes and massive auditoriums for lectures, as well as campus events such as student orientation, concerts and more.
VirBELA is expanding to meet business needs and has added 85 new employees since the start of 2020 in key growth areas such as engineering, customer success and sales. Glenn Sanford, the founder of eXp World Holdings, joined in April as chief strategy officer to lead strategic initiatives. Other key leaders added to help scale the business include Marko Stankovic, vice president of marketing, and David Chen, general counsel. These executives have been instrumental in capturing market demand and accelerating growth as VirBELA continues to become the industry go-to for remote work, virtual events and online educational programs.
