Zoom bets bigger on virtual events with latest acquisition

July 25, 2022 Adam Benjamin and, applications, applicator, services, software, zoom

    Zoom is stepping up its event production game.
    Angela Lang/CNET
    Zoom?has acquired assets from event production startup Liminal, according to a statement Dec. 27. The news came as part of a look at the future of virtual events from Zoom, and how the company was evolving to meet growing industry needs.
    “Like the future of work, we believe that the future of events will include a combination of virtual and in-person formats,” a Zoom spokesperson told CNET via email. “Whether it is a large trade show, corporate summit, internal event or online classes, our customers will need a holistic solution that provides them with what they need to confidently build, host and manage virtual and hybrid events.”
    When asked about the biggest challenge in Zoom’s road to becoming a comprehensive events management platform, the spokesperson told CNET, “The biggest challenge is having a holistic solution to meet all of these needs and for all event formats (hybrid, virtual, etc.).” This acquisition is one way Zoom is tackling that challenge.
    As the pandemic moves toward its third calendar year, events have increasingly gone online, demanding more and more from video teleconferencing apps like Zoom. Those apps have needed to expand the features of their products or rely on third-party services like the ones Liminal provided.
    Liminal offered apps like ZoomISO and ZoomOSC that support improved production options like individual video outputs and enhanced sound controls in Zoom meetings. These features allow companies to create higher-quality productions than your average Zoom call.?
    The acquisition included “certain assets from Liminal,” as well as two of the company’s co-founders, Andy Carluccio and Jonathan Kokotajlo, according to Zoom’s announcement.?
    Zoom’s spokesperson told CNET that Liminal’s products would remain “largely available,” but that Zoom would “work on internal development of a similar toolset that will render Liminal’s current tools obsolete.”