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The Interview
Peter Kiha CFO of etouches
etouches Raises $7.75 Million Growth Financing Q
Can you give an overview of etouches and its organizational
structure?
etouches is a software and services provider to the global events industry. The company was founded by longtime serial entrepreneur Leonora Valvo and was originally an event management company called Global Executive. What began as an internally developed software tool quickly evolved into a comprehensive event management platform capable of handling everything from online registration to event websites, scheduling, budgeting, email marketing, seating selection, venue sourcing and other functions. The company is privately owned and is based in Norwalk Connecticut, with regional offices in Reading, UK and Sydney, Australia.
Q
What are the main areas of etouches’s expertise?
The company’s core product is its comprehensive event management software suite, which is designed in an intuitive manner that works the way event and marketing professionals work to plan, market and manage events. Functionality, workflows and even the site’s look and feel are all designed purposefully to allow efficiency, effectiveness and a fantastic user experience.
The company differentiates itself from others in the space through its deep domain expertise in the events industry and its strong service orientation, drawing deeply from its legacy as a service provider.
etouches also offers event related services such as onsite staff to oversee onsite check-in and registration housing management, badging, and speaker and pre-conference management.
Q
etouches has recently closed its Series B financing round, raising
$7.75m. How does this fit into your business strategy?
The company has experienced explosive growth in the last three years, more than doubling in customer base, employees and revenues. We raised the additional capital to help fuel this continued growth by investing in improved infrastructure, expanding our employee base and expanding into new markets and territories.
Q
What will the funding be used for?
As we have always done, we will continue to improve our software suite for the benefit of our customers, adding new modules and
functionality, improving the infrastructure to ensure security of customer data, and providing the best possible user experience. We will continue to grow our team in all areas of the company, and we will pursue smart growth initiatives, including expansion into new markets and territories and selective acquisitions.
Q
Were there any challenges that needed to be overcome?
There are always challenges to overcome when running a rapidly growing global software company – anyone who tells you otherwise is lying! We serve a highly mobile customer base running events around the clock in numerous locations around the world, and this base has high expectations for service and support. Maintaining this commitment to our clients is something we do very well and have acquired a sterling reputation for doing so, but not without a few sleepless nights!
Another challenge we face, as do many similarly rapidly growing companies, is the ongoing war for talent. Even in the current macro-economic environment it is difficult to find qualified, motivated employees, particularly in highly technical roles. We’ve had to become very creative in our recruiting
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