change take
Vaibhav Jain’s reign at the helm of the company he co-founded in 2014 has come to an end. Former engineer and product manager Shailesh Hegde takes over.
Miguel Neves
On Thursday, Hubilo founder Vaibhav Jain announced on LinkedIn that he had resigned as CEO and assumed the role of executive chairman. He has been replaced by Shailesh Hegde, who most recently served as Vice President of Product. Hegde joined the company in 2021 to lead the global product division. He previously served as Director of Product Management for BlueJeans by Verizon.
The change comes after Hubilo slashed its workforce through at least three rounds of layoffs in 18 months, the last of which occurred in October. Hubilo instead focused on webinars, and after the layoffs, Jain shared a post on LinkedIn explaining that the virtual events market had collapsed in the wake of the pandemic.
But at least two former employees have also publicly expressed dissatisfaction with leadership. Former global demand and growth director Gloria Zhu questioned why Hubilo’s chief executive remained on board after multiple rounds of layoffs. Rachel Moore, a former senior marketing director at Hubilo, criticized Hubilo’s leadership for multiple management errors.
hubillo’s story
Founded in 2014 in Ahmedabad, India, Hubilo is an online event technology startup. The product evolved into an event management software offering registration, mobile app and web solutions. The company shifted its focus to virtual events during the coronavirus pandemic, and as the pandemic subsided, the company pivoted to support hybrid events.
The company has attracted five rounds of funding totaling $153 million, with the largest Series B round of $125 million in October 2021 from investors including Alkeon Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Balderton Capital.
In February 2023, Hubilo used part of the funds to acquire Belgium-based FieldDrive, which specializes in live event technology, including check-in, badges and access control. Fielddrive continues to operate as an independent company, with no mention of parent company Hubilo on the website.
Inc42’s critical report in November pointed to deep losses in the last financial year, with employee benefit spending items being the biggest culprit.
Jain will continue to be associated with the company in his new role.
“I have been running Hubilo for some time and it will be one of the greatest privileges of my life. I will continue to be involved in the company as Executive Chairman and support Shailesh and the wider team.
Hubilo did not immediately respond to Skift Meetings’ request for comment.
