Archive note — September 4, 2026: This restored article describes Circa’s August 3, 2020 relaunch. The estimate that 80% of the platform was new, the 40,000-event figure, the Okta testimonial and predictions about hybrid events were contemporaneous statements from the company, its CEO or its customer; the original report did not independently verify them. Circa’s current website confirms that the company began as EventGeek in Y Combinator’s Summer 2016 batch, adopted the Circa name in summer 2020 and continues to market an event-planning platform. Its current pricing page publicly lists calendar integration, Zapier and API access but does not establish whether every integration named in the 2020 report remains available. ([simplecirca.com](https://www.simplecirca.com/about?utm_source=openai))
EventGeek was a Y Combinator-backed startup that offered tools to help enterprises manage and analyze their events. With the COVID-19 pandemic prompting widespread cancellations and moves online, the company had to reinvent itself. ([ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/eventgeek/?utm_source=openai))
On August 3, 2020, EventGeek relaunched as Circa, with a new focus on virtual events. Founder and CEO Alex Patriquin said Circa was reusing parts of EventGeek’s existing technology, but he estimated that 80% of the platform was new. ([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/03/eventgeek-relaunches-as-circa/?utm_source=openai))
Although the relaunch had only just become official, the startup said its software had already been used to adapt 40,000 in-person events into virtual conferences and webinars. ([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/03/eventgeek-relaunches-as-circa/?utm_source=openai))
The immediate challenge, Patriquin said, was simply figuring out how to hold a virtual event — something for which Circa offered a playbook. But the startup’s goals went beyond virtual-event logistics.
“Our new focus is really more at the senior marketing stakeholder level, helping them have a unified view of the customer,” Patriquin said.
He explained that “events have always been kind of disconnected from the marketing stack,” so the shift to virtual presented an opportunity to treat event participation as part of the larger customer journey and include events in the broader customer record. At launch, Circa said it integrated with sales and marketing systems such as Salesforce and Marketo, as well as videoconferencing platforms including Zoom and On24. ([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/03/eventgeek-relaunches-as-circa/?utm_source=openai))
“We don’t actually deliver [the conference] experience,” Patriquin said. “We put it into that context of the customer journey.”
Liz Kokoska, then senior director of demand generation for North America at Circa customer Okta, made a similar point in a company-supplied statement.
“Prior to Circa, we had to manage our physical and virtual events in separate systems, even though we thought of them as parts of the same marketing channel,” Kokoska said. “With Circa, we now have a single view of all our events in one place — this is helpful in planning and company-wide visibility on marketing activity. Being able to seamlessly adapt to the new world of virtual and hybrid events has given our team a significant advantage.” ([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/03/eventgeek-relaunches-as-circa/?utm_source=openai))
Looking ahead to a world in which large conferences would again be possible, Patriquin predicted that there was still “a really big opportunity for the events industry and for Circa.”
“As in-person events start to come back, there’s going to be a phase where health and safety are going to be paramount,” he continued. “After that health and safety phase, it’s going to be the age of hybrid events — where everything is virtual right now, hybrid will provide the opportunity to bring key [virtual] learnings back into the in-person world, to have a lot more data and intelligence and really be able to personalize an attendee’s experience.” ([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/03/eventgeek-relaunches-as-circa/?utm_source=openai))
Related: Bevy.com raises $15M to power virtual events and community
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