BrightTalk secures $20.5M from NGBE

Is the webinar dead? BrightTalk says no.

Webinar marketing company BrightTalk recently recieved $20.5 million from North Bridge Growth Equity, securing a minority stake for the firm. BrightTalk is a business to business webinar service, "provid[ing] online events for professionals and their communities." The new capital from this round will be used to help fund BrightTalk's growth initiatives and technology development, according to the company's press release.

BrightTalk hopes to take the current reputation of webinar meetings as being dry, boring speeches given by dead-faced excutives, and bring it into the social networking age. BrightTalk means to enable business "thought leaders" to "share their insights...with professionals all over the globe." 

Users can join the site as viewers or presenters.  As a viewer, the platform allows you to explore live webinars on a wide range of business-related categories that fit your interests (marketing, sales, clean tech, financial services, government, etc.) by searching communities, channels, summits, or individual webcasts.  Additionally, webcasts are available on-demand for those who weren't able to catch the live broadcast.

Presenters can join the site and create online events using BrightTalk's webcast platform, complete with promotional tools. 

Included among the aforementioned "technology developments" will be social networking features, infusing the company's platform with a more interactive feel.

"B2B marketers are looking for innovative companies like BrightTalk to help them deliver webinar and video programs that also leverage social media to reach new audiences and build strong relationships with their communities," said Russell Pyle, a partner of NBGE who recently joined BrightTalk's board of directors.

BrightTalk has offices in San Francisco, London, and New York. The company could not be reached for immediate comment.