Networking is often the main reason people attend a business event, and matchmaking software promises to make it less random. The suppliers describe algorithms, recommendations and meeting counts. What an organiser needs to know is whether the right people will meet at a time and place that works, and whether attendees understand what the system does with their information. This guide uses suppliers’ published descriptions as examples. We have not tested these products, and supplier performance figures are reported as their claims.
Start with the meeting you want to happen
Write down the meetings that would make the event a success: buyers with suppliers, investors with start-ups, mentors with first-time attendees or peers in the same role. Brella, for example, describes support for one-to-one meetings, sponsor meetings, investor and start-up matching, speed networking and theme-based networking. Each needs different profile questions and rules about who can contact whom. If you cannot describe the meeting, an algorithm cannot find it.
Check that the right people will be there
Matchmaking cannot create buyers who did not register. Grip promotes insight dashboards for checking the mix of attendees and companies before an event. Whatever tool you use, check the mix early: the share of buyers to sellers, the sectors represented and the people who have completed their profile. Recommendations built on half-empty profiles will be weak.
Ask what data feeds the recommendations
Suppliers differ in what they use. Grip says it feeds behavioural data from its app, such as sessions or participants viewed, into 16 machine-learning algorithms. Brella says its algorithm learns from attendees’ past actions and that, with a container set-up, event data becomes richer from one event to the next. Ask which profile answers and behaviours are used, whether data carries over between events, how attendees are told and how someone can opt out without losing access to the event. Put the answers in your privacy information.
Control who can reach whom
Open networking suits some events; others need limits. Brella lists gated networking and attendance-type tags. Ask how you can stop unsolicited sales approaches, separate in-person and remote attendees, protect speakers and VIPs, and handle a complaint about a message. Test the reporting and blocking route as an attendee would.
Make scheduling and locations work
A match is not a meeting until both people agree a time and a place. Check calendar sync, time zone handling for hybrid events, reminders and what happens when someone is late or cancels. For in-person events, ask how meeting locations are managed: Brella describes custom meeting locations and automated table assignment. Walk the route between the meeting area and the sessions to see whether the timings are realistic.
Measure the result, not the clicks
Suppliers publish impressive totals, such as recommendations made each year or percentage increases in meetings at a client event. Those are their figures, not a forecast for yours. Decide what you will count: meetings requested, accepted, held and rated useful, and follow-up after the event. Brella lists one-to-one meeting ratings as a beta feature; ask how any rating is collected and who can see it. Include the exhibitors’ and sponsors’ view, because their renewal decision often depends on the meetings they had.
A short demonstration script
Ask each supplier to set up a test event with your own profile questions and a dozen fictional attendees. Have two of your team register as a buyer and a seller and follow the journey: complete the profile, review recommendations, request a meeting, accept it, move it and cancel it. Then look at the organiser view of the same activity and the export you would receive. Compare suppliers on that journey, not on the size of the algorithm.
Sources
- Brella: event matchmaking
- Brella: feature list
- Grip: AI event matchmaking
- Grip: platform overview
- Whova: product overview
Sources checked 19 October 2026. Supplier capabilities and figures are attributed to their published pages and have not been independently verified.
In the directory: Compare event apps and networking platforms in the vendor directory.
