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| Zance Team |
By Oluchi Omai
As the cost of hosting events climbs and professionals are tired of endless video calls, a London-based startup is asking a blunt question of the events industry: What are people really getting back from meeting in person?
Zance, backed by the Mayor of London’s Amplify Ventures and Foundervine, has launched an AI-powered platform designed to measure the true return on investment of physical events. Instead of focusing on headline figures such as ticket sales or attendance, the platform tracks what actually happens on the ground from meaningful introductions to follow-up conversations that turn into business.
The company argues that for too long, organisers and sponsors have relied on guesswork. Ticketing platforms, spreadsheets and post-event surveys offer fragments of insight, but little clarity on whether an event delivered tangible outcomes.
“For decades, success has been judged by how full a room looks,” said Ifeanyichukwu Ukwu, chief executive of Zance. “But a crowded room doesn’t guarantee a single meaningful connection. Organisers have almost no visibility into what actually happens between two people shaking hands. That’s the gap we’re closing.”
Zance’s platform acts as both a digital concierge for attendees and a live analytics tool for organisers. An AI-powered personal assistant analyses participants’ professional goals and suggests relevant connections, aiming to replace chance encounters with more intentional networking. Conversations can be logged instantly as follow-ups or leads, while organisers and sponsors receive real-time data through a proprietary metric known as the Zance Event Success Score, or ZES Score.
According to the company, early pilot programmes have delivered encouraging results. Events using the platform recorded attendance rates of up to 70 per cent and saw post-event business conversions double, alongside fewer no-shows and less time lost on unproductive interactions.
While major conferences often commission bespoke event apps, Zance is targeting what it sees as a neglected middle ground: corporate offsites, professional communities and high-value networking events that need accountability but cannot justify enterprise-level budgets.
The idea grew out of the founders’ own experience. The team behind Zance has organised more than 150 events, many of which struggled to clearly demonstrate value to sponsors. “We kept seeing strong events fail to justify their impact,” Ukwu said. “That frustration is what pushed us to build this.”
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| CEO of Zance, Ifeanyi Ukwu |
Zance was founded by Ukwu alongside Isaac Oduh, chief technology officer, and Enya Adesulure, who leads partnerships. With support from Amplify Ventures, the company is now preparing a wider rollout across the UK and planning expansion into Europe. It is also targeting a pre-seed funding round by the end of the first quarter of 2026 to further develop its AI capabilities and accelerate growth.
“The next era of events belongs to the accountable,” Ukwu added. “If you can’t measure the outcome, you shouldn’t be holding the event.”
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