When Karen Klein joined party invitation platform Evite in 2022, the company was undergoing a significant evolution.
Evite had been around for 24 years at that point, becoming a first mover in the digital invitations space that’s now populated by the likes of Partiful, Eventbrite and Paperless Post. It was once a proprietary eponym, much like Thermos, Kleenex or Xerox.
But the then-downtown-based Evite changed hands often, raising $38 million in funding before it was acquired by Beverly Hills-based Ticketmaster in 2001 and then again by Liberty Interactive in 2010.
By 2020, Evite hadn’t turned a profit. The digital invitations company, which depended on social gatherings, was also facing a crisis in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic that shuttered schools, businesses, concert halls and restaurants.
That’s when now-chief executive David Yeom and George Ruan decided to buy the company. Evite moved into an office space in Glendale, where streamers clinging to the walls, slowly-deflating balloons bobbing about and a well-stocked spirits bar show signs of the various elaborate parties the company throws internally.
“The pandemic was a catalyst for rethinking how people connect and celebrate,” Klein, the executive vice president of product at Evite, said in a statement. “In the post-Covid world, Americans are wanting community and togetherness, and are actually partying much more. As people began to seek more ways to reconnect, especially in 2024, Evite saw an increase in making a celebration out of the everyday events that we missed so much.”
Indeed, parties went up 4% between 2023 and 2024, according to Evite. Younger generations are finding more excuses to party by celebrating what once might have been considered mundane moments. Parties have also become less elaborate, Evite found – a simple potluck, book club meeting or kickback at home is still organized on digital invitations platforms, rather than group chats.
In the black
In November, Evite received a strategic growth investment from Francisco Partners, though the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“It re-solidified our confidence in the vision for the Evite brand as we head into 2025 and beyond,” Klein says.
Under Yeom, Evite lessened its heavy reliance on advertisements under invitations and began using affiliate e-commerce programs that would suggest gifts guests could bring to parties. It developed premium invitations – ad-free invitations that offered more customization in terms of gifting suggestions and template designs and that, according to Evite, garners more RSVPs than their economy product. More than 6 million invitations are sent every year.
The recent rebrand has allowed Evite to achieve profitability for the first time in 26 years. Business revenue at Evite is up 50% year over year and the company says its Instagram content sees 420% more reach than competitors’ social media engagement.
And now 26 years since its founding, the company doesn’t just create digital invitations. It has expanded to support the larger party planning ecosystem by creating sign up sheets for volunteer shifts or potluck dishes, and “party playbooks” – guides complete with themes and decor affiliate links for anything from a Taylor Swift-themed birthday to a nostalgic adult slumber party.
“Over the past 25 years, Evite has grown from a digital invitations platform to a party planning ecosystem that evolves with the needs of Evite’s community as they grow,” Klein says.
