Breezit – a professional event planning digital marketplace – recently announced that it has now raised $2 million in funding. Practica Capital led the pre-seed round. Breezit intends to use the funding round to develop further the generative AI and machine-learning capabilities of its venue and vendor marketplace – which provides highly detailed pricing information for each venue and vendor to help couples discover services that match requirements and budgets.
About 80% of American couples do not have a wedding planner due to budget constraints. So, most are left to organize their events and weddings by researching and individually reaching out to numerous service providers just to get their prices. Plus, rampant inflation has caused event costs to skyrocket. The average price for a wedding rose from about $28,000 in 2021 to about $30,000 last year, and the average cost for a wedding venue rental rose $500 in that same time frame. Breezit can save couples an estimated two weeks of planning time by providing accurate service estimates up front, matching their style to the right service providers, and facilitating consultations like a personal wedding planner but free of charge.
Launched in 2020, with major operations in Southern California and Vilnius, Lithuania, Breezit takes a top-to-bottom approach to event planning and service management. Rather than sifting through countless individual websites and requesting prices and availability one by one, couples planning their weddings can scroll through multiple venues, DJs, photographers, florists, caterers, etc., with full pricing information, saving them countless hours they would have otherwise spent manually emailing individual businesses. There are filters for location, date, budget, event type, and more that make sorting and finding the right providers even easier. After a couple has found a venue, package, or service provider they’re interested in, Breezit’s team of planning concierges coordinates inquiry calls and site tours. Unlike other platforms, Breezit does not charge service providers a monthly subscription or for leads. Instead, venues and service providers only pay Breezit a small fee once they’ve booked the couple.
Breezit had initially courted investor interest for the pre-seed round following its successful launch and integration in Lithuania, where the platform boasts over 1,500 event vendor and venue listings and between 30,000 and 45,000 users each month. After scouting several different U.S. markets, the company set up a satellite office in Los Angeles and integrated itself into the Southern California region. With an expansion into Northern California already underway, Breezit now partners with 805 venues and vendors to service 15,000 active monthly users and counting.
KEY QUOTES:
“We streamline the events planning process by putting all the major elements in one place while prioritizing price transparency and discovery. We’ve made it easier and faster for couples to find everything they’re looking for by sharing information that wedding planners usually possess, and we’re saving venues and small business owners time and money by facilitating site tours with the right couples for them.”
— Artūras Asakavičius, CEO and Co-Founder at Breezit
“Hands-down one of the hardest parts of planning a wedding is figuring out how much it’s going to cost. There are so many elements that factor into the final number – guest count, time of year, location, style, and the list goes on. As a result, most couples end up committing to a date and a venue contract before they really have a solid understanding as to how much it’s going to be. The more pricing transparency and understanding a couple has around cost, the better it is for them and the small businesses that power the industry.”
— Weddings fintech expert Anja Winikka
“Although it’s an undeniably crowded field, the event planning market is lagging incredibly when it comes to digitalization. It’s dominated by outdated classified portals and overpriced subscription services. Breezit saw this opening and took it. Especially considering the emphasis on price transparency and its vision to use generative AI, this marketplace is designed to make digital event planning as seamless and intelligent as possible. That kind of direct and tech-centric approach to developing new markets is precisely what makes us confident in this partnership.”
— Arvydas Bložė, partner at Practica Capital
