What was announced
Naboo, the Paris-based corporate events booking and spend management platform, has acquired pro-ven, a UK meetings and events specialist founded in 2005. Naboo announced the deal on 27 October 2026. No price was disclosed.
According to Naboo’s announcement, pro-ven becomes Naboo’s UK headquarters. Its founder and managing director, Julian Laxon, stays on to lead the group’s UK business. Naboo says pro-ven’s clients keep their existing account teams and terms, and pro-ven’s staff now work on Naboo’s platform.
The two businesses
pro-ven manages meetings and events spend for large UK, European and international companies and associations. Its work covers venue and supplier sourcing, rate and contract negotiation, approval workflows, central invoicing and payments, and lodge card administration.
Naboo was founded in 2022 and sells an AI-based platform for sourcing, booking and paying for corporate meetings and events. It has offices in New York, San Francisco, Montreal, Paris, Hamburg, Barcelona, London and Singapore, and says it has 280 staff. Earlier in 2026 it raised $70 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners. Naboo says the combined business now manages $300 million of meetings and events spend worldwide, which it describes as the largest independent specialist in events procurement and venue sourcing. M&IT’s report of the deal gives the figure as £225 million.
In comments reported by M&IT, Laxon said he was “incredibly excited for our clients and our team” about the move, and Naboo’s founder and chief executive, Maxime Eduardo, said the future leader in the market “will be a pure player”, rather than a travel management company running events as a side business.
What it means for UK venues and buyers
Events Review’s reading, not a statement from either company, is that the deal puts a long-established UK venue-sourcing business inside a venture-funded international platform. That follows a wider push by procurement teams to bring meetings and events spend under the same controls as business travel. Venues that already work with pro-ven may see enquiries, contracts and commission or payment arrangements move onto Naboo’s systems over time, although neither company has announced any change to existing terms. Corporate buyers using pro-ven are told their teams and conditions stay the same, so it is worth confirming with the usual contact who now holds contracts and payment details.
Related coverage
Other recent ownership changes in UK events are covered in Nineteen Group has bought FIT Show from Montgomery Group and CloserStill Media has bought ROAR B2B and its five event brands. For agencies that handle venue finding and delegate management, see the event agencies directory.
Sources
- Naboo: Naboo acquiert pro-ven, spécialiste M&E (announcement in French), 27 October 2026
- M&IT: Naboo snaps up pro-ven as it eyes leadership of M&E spend management market
Sources read on 28 October 2026. Company details, the $300 million spend figure, office list, staffing and funding are from Naboo’s own announcement, which is published in French and summarised here in English. The two quotes are as reported in English by M&IT, which also gives the £225 million figure. pro-ven’s own website did not respond to our request. The implications for venues and buyers are Events Review’s analysis.
