Nowadays
AI-native platform for corporate events, handling everything from venue sourcing to day-of coordination.
Website: https://www.nowadays.ai/
Cover Block
| Name | Nowadays |
| Tagline | AI-native platform for corporate events, handling everything from venue sourcing to day-of coordination. |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, United States |
| Founded | 2023 |
| Stage | Seed |
| Business Model | SaaS |
| Industry | HR / Future of Work |
| Technology | AI / Machine Learning |
| Geography | Global / Remote-First |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Co-Founders (2) |
| Funding Label | Seed (total disclosed ~$2,000,000) |
Links
- Website: https://www.nowadays.ai/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nowadays-ai/
- Careers: https://www.nowadays.ai/careers/software-engineer-intern
Summary and Signal
Nowadays is an AI-native platform that automates the end-to-end planning of corporate events, a process historically defined by manual vendor sourcing and complex contract negotiations [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024]. The company's immediate relevance stems from its application of large language models to a high-friction, high-spend business process, promising to convert weeks of administrative work into a software-managed workflow.
The company was founded in 2023 by sisters Anna Sun and Amy Yan, who initially scaled their operational experience from planning events for thousands of university students [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024]. Their product differentiates by using AI to directly contact and negotiate with venues in 22 languages, parsing dense proposals into standardized comparisons, and managing a proprietary database of over 400,000 vetted venues [Y Combinator, retrieved 2024].
Sun's background in product and engineering at Datadog and DoorDash informs the platform's technical build, while the team's collective experience grounds its service model [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024]. The business is capitalized by a $2 million seed round closed in late 2024, backed by a syndicate including Y Combinator, Hike Ventures, and Basis Set Ventures [TechCrunch, Dec 2024]. Its revenue model appears to be a hybrid of transaction-based fees and annual subscriptions, though specific pricing tiers are still being refined.
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Core company facts and funding are confirmed by the company's own materials and a major trade publication.
Taxonomy Snapshot
| Axis | Classification |
|---|---|
| Stage | Seed |
| Business Model | SaaS |
| Industry / Vertical | HR / Future of Work |
| Technology Type | AI / Machine Learning |
| Geography | Global / Remote-First |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Co-Founders (2) |
| Funding | Seed (total disclosed ~$2,000,000) |
Company Overview
Nowadays was founded in 2023 by sisters Anna Sun and Amy Yan, who launched the company after their own experiences with the logistical grind of organizing large-scale events [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024]. The San Francisco-based startup emerged from Y Combinator's Winter 2024 batch and publicly announced a $2 million seed round in December of that year [TechCrunch, Dec 2024]. The founding narrative centers on the co-founders' background as class presidents at their respective universities, where they planned events for over 3,300 students [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024].
Key early milestones include the development of a proprietary database of over 400,000 vetted venues and the launch of an AI-powered platform that handles sourcing, negotiation, and logistics [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024]. The company's public traction claims include facilitating over $4 million in client bookings since launch [Instagram, Dec 2024]. Its client list, cited on its careers page, includes Google, Airbnb, and Quantstamp [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024].
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Founding details and funding round confirmed by company and TechCrunch; client and booking claims are single-source and unverified.
The Product and the Stack
Nowadays positions its core product as an enterprise-grade event management platform designed to automate the entire corporate planning workflow, from initial concept to final reconciliation [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024]. The platform's primary wedge is replacing manual, spreadsheet-heavy processes with an AI-native assistant that handles vendor outreach, proposal analysis, and contract negotiation.
The workflow begins with a Flight & Budget Estimator, which uses an attendee list and dates to model travel costs across potential cities [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024]. For venue sourcing, the platform claims access to a database of over 400,000 vetted properties [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024]. Its AI agents then conduct outreach, with the system capable of sending personalized emails and making phone calls to gather availability and negotiate rates in 22 languages [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024] [Y Combinator, retrieved 2024]. A central technical claim is the AI's ability to parse complex, 50-page hotel proposals into standardized comparisons within seconds [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024] [Y Combinator, retrieved 2024]. The platform also includes tools for managing room blocks, attendee logistics, and post-event spend reconciliation [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief, retrieved 2024].
The website lists a 'Basic' plan with no service charge, offering one city search and five RFPs [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024]. A 'Book a Demo' plan carries a 10% service charge and requires a refundable deposit [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024]. The company states it is IATA-certified and a WBENC Certified Women's Business Enterprise [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024].
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core product claims are sourced directly from the company website. Pricing and some capability details have partial corroboration or are inferred from public materials.
The Market They Are Entering
The corporate event planning market is being reshaped by the dual pressures of rising operational costs and the enterprise-wide adoption of AI for workflow automation. According to a 2023 report by Allied Market Research cited by industry publication Skift, the global meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) market was valued at $876 billion and is projected to reach $1.4 trillion by 2032 [Allied Market Research, 2023].
Demand for platforms like Nowadays is driven by several clear tailwinds. First, corporate travel and event budgets have rebounded post-pandemic, but finance and procurement teams now demand greater visibility and control over decentralized spend [Y Combinator, 2024]. Second, persistent labor shortages and high turnover in administrative and event coordinator roles increase the appeal of automation. Third, the maturation of large language models has made complex, multi-step tasks like parsing proposals and negotiating in multiple languages a plausible target for automation [nowadays.ai, 2024].
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Global MICE Market 2023 | $876B |
| Projected MICE Market 2032 | $1,400B |
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing is drawn from an analogous third-party report; company-specific demand drivers are cited from its own materials.
The Competitive Field
Nowadays enters a market defined by entrenched incumbents and a long tail of manual service providers, positioning its AI-native automation as a wedge against both inefficiency and high cost.
| Company | Positioning | Stage / Funding | Notable Differentiator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nowadays | AI-native platform for end-to-end corporate event planning. | Seed ($2M) | Proprietary database of 400,000+ vetted venues; AI-driven outreach and negotiation in 22 languages. |
| Cvent | Comprehensive event management and hospitality platform. | Public (acquired 2023) | Dominant market share, extensive supplier network, and deep integrations. |
| BoomPop | Platform for planning and managing team experiences. | Venture-backed (Series A) | Focus on employee experience and engagement. |
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor profiles are public knowledge; differentiation claims are from company sources.
Opportunity
The headline opportunity is for Nowadays to become the default operating system for corporate event planning, a category-defining platform that replaces a constellation of spreadsheets, emails, and manual vendor negotiations. This outcome is reachable because the company's AI-native approach directly targets the most labor-intensive and costly parts of the workflow. The evidence lies in the scale of the initial data asset, a database of over 400,000 vetted venues [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024], and the automation of tasks that typically consume dozens of planner hours [Y Combinator, retrieved 2024].
| Scenario | What happens | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise Land-and-Expand | Nowadays becomes the mandated vendor for all offsite and meeting planning within large, distributed corporations. | A strategic partnership with a major HRIS or travel management platform to embed its sourcing engine. |
| The Procurement Standard | The platform evolves from a planner's tool to a procurement and finance team's mandatory control point. | A product launch focused on spend analytics and policy enforcement. |
| The Marketplace Pivot | The vendor database and negotiation engine become a two-sided marketplace. | Achieving a critical mass of corporate booking volume. |
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Opportunity sizing relies on public comparables and company claims about process efficiency; growth scenarios are extrapolated from early client logos and product direction.
Sources
- [nowadays.ai, retrieved 2024] Nowadays - AI Event Planner for Corporate Teams | https://www.nowadays.ai/
- [TechCrunch, Dec 2024] Y Combinator alum Nowadays, founded by sisters, raises... | https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/06/y-combinator-alum-nowadays-founded-by-sisters-raises-2m-to-automate-event-planning/
- [Instagram, Dec 2024] Nowadays, a 2023-founded event-planning AI startup... | https://www.instagram.com/p/DDXYeKvxz6O/?hl=en
- [Y Combinator, retrieved 2024] Nowadays - AI Event Planner for Corporate Teams | https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/nowadays
- [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief, retrieved 2024] Nowadays - AI Event Planner for Corporate Teams | https://www.nowadays.ai/
- [Allied Market Research, 2023] Global Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) Market Report | https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/meetings-incentives-conferences-and-exhibitions-market-A31528
- [Reuters, 2021] Blackstone to take Cvent private in $4.6 billion deal | https://www.reuters.com/business/blackstone-take-cvent-private-46-bln-deal-2021-07-19/
Articles about Nowadays
- Nowadays's AI Agent Negotiates Venue Contracts in 22 Languages — The YC-backed startup, founded by sisters, has processed over $4 million in corporate event bookings by automating the planner's most tedious tasks.