48. Avva Experience

Founder: Barnaby Sellers, Chris Smith
Founded: 2018
Website: avvaexperience.com

You might think that running corporate events during widespread remote working and lockdowns would be challenging, but for Barnaby Sellers and Chris Smith, founders of Avva Experience, it presented a new opportunity – virtual and hybrid events.

Until March 2020, the company had focused solely on in-person events, until the pandemic crushed its business overnight. Given the choice of mothballing the business, or pivoting to a new model that could not only recapture those lost clients, but also grow and expand, too.

The business has flourished under its new model, becoming substantially more profitable than before the pandemic.

Sellers and Smith opted for the latter, and haven’t looked back since. The business has flourished under this new model, becoming substantially more profitable than before, and it has also allowed for new opportunities that simply weren’t available before.

The move meant that its experienced vendors were able to bring back staff from furlough, and also widened its audience globally. Not only that, but Avva Experience also thinks there’s an environmental impact too – remote events can reduce an experience’s carbon footprint by 60 – 98%

Since then the company has delivered 3,000 virtual and hybrid events to a large and diverse client list of over 500 companies, including TikTok, Goldman Sachs, Amazon, Facebook and more, and has truly established itself as the name in virtual and hybrid corporate events.

Avva Experience has delivered 3,000 virtual and hybrid events to a large and diverse client list of over 500 companies, including TikTok, Goldman Sachs, Amazon, and Facebook.

One of the reasons for Avva Experience’s success is due to its ability to deliver experiences to anyone, regardless of location, and it’s wide range of options, with over 200 curated events available for companies to choose from, including everything from virtual wine tasting and comedy nights, to virtual roaring 20’s summer parties.