Cvent buys mobile conference apps maker CrowdCompass for $10 million

Cvent, a provider of cloud-based event management solutions, has spent $10 million on the purchase of CrowdCompass, a Portland, OR-based software startup that specializes in apps for business events like conferences and tradeshows.

The deal is another testament to Cvent’s increased focus on products for smartphones and tablets after the company acquired another mobile (consumer) event apps maker called Seed Labs just last week.

The acquisition of CrowdCompass, Cvent says, will enable the company to deliver a solution that will accelerate the popularity of meetings and events and enhance communications between attendees via social media.

Cvent and CrowdCompass will jointly offer a solution that combines event management tools and the ability for business event planners to easily create native iPhone, iPad, Android and BlackBerry applications.

According to a statement, CrowdCompass has gained expertise in the area by building 435 apps for a wide variety of mid-to large- sized public and private events, including for big clients such as E*Trade, the American Bar Association and Daimler.

Founded in 2009 by Dave Shanley, Brian Felder and Tom Kingsley, CrowdCompass raised $1.3 million late last year in a round led by the Oregon Angel Fund.

Founded in 1999, Cvent offers Web-based software for meeting site selection, online event registration, event management, e-mail marketing and web surveys. The company says it has processed over $2 billion in online payments and has managed over 30 million event registrations and survey responses for its clients.

Cvent raised $136 million in funding a little over a year ago.

(Full disclosure: I’m a – very small – shareholder of a company called Oxynade, which operates an event ticketing and management solution MyUpcoming and is associated with mobile apps company TapCrowd)