Back in 2019, virtual communication tools for work included platforms like Skype, Signal, Slack and Zoom. But Adam Ullman, Badri Rajasekar and Juan de Bravo thought more could be done to simplify remote collaboration.

The trio sought to fill what they perceived as a gap in the computer software industry by building Jamm. The collaboration tool provided artificial intelligence-backed video conferencing that could be integrated into existing tools like Slack and GitHub, tracking users as they spoke and allowing text or video instant messaging.

“When Adam, Juan and I started Jamm in the summer of 2019, the world was a very different place,” Rajasekar said in a now-archived blog post.

Jamm’s pandemic-fueled growth

When the COVID-19 pandemic began to take hold, millions of workers suddenly depended on the type of technology Jamm offered.

By August 2020, just five months after the U.S. issued stay-at-home mandates, Jamm raised $1.8 million in seed funding from Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. When the funding was announced, Jamm was used in more than 100 workspaces and had just reported surpassing 1 million minutes of video usage, according to FinSMEs.

Less than a year after raising its seed round, Jamm caught the eye of Hopin, a virtual events platform.

In early March 2021, Hopin raised $400 million in Series C funding. Two weeks later, the company announced it had acquired Jamm for an undisclosed amount. It was less than two years after Jamm had launched.

“We believe this acquisition provides Jamm an amazing platform to build on the great work we’ve already done re-thinking collaboration in the workplace and to power new, disruptive products and experiences within Hopin,” Rajasekar said in his now-archived blog post about the acquisition.

In the same press release, Hopin announced it had also acquired Streamable, a video hosting platform, for an undisclosed amount.

“With these acquisitions, we will integrate Streamable and Jamm technology into our current product offering — making for a more robust experience for event managers and attendees,” Hopin CEO and founder Johnny Boufarhat wrote in a blog post about the acquisition.

Since acquiring Jamm, Hopin has expanded into hybrid and in-person events and serves clients like Adobe, Dell and the New York Jets, according to its website. In August 2021, it was valued at $7.75 billion, reported Business Insider — up from the $5.65 billion valuation reported a year earlier.

Since the acquisition, Ullman and Rajasekar continued working at Hopin. Ullman is now the director of engineering, and Rajasekar is the chief technology officer and general manager.

Rajasekar, Ullman and de Bravo did not respond to requests to comment for this story.