Multicity

About Multicity

Multicity was an early player in the online community management space, founded in 1999 by Alain Hanash. Headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, the company aimed to provide organizations with the tools to build and manage their own online communities. It secured a significant venture capital investment in its early stages, raising $15 million in a Series B round on January 28, 2000, from investor Grotech Ventures.

The company's core offering was a hosted, multilingual enterprise solution designed for corporations and non-profit organizations. This platform was delivered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product, meaning clients did not need to purchase or install any hardware or software. The integrated suite of tools included blogs, chat functions, forums, message boards, online events, and polls. These features were complemented by advanced management and moderation capabilities, allowing clients to control their branded communities effectively. The business model centered on providing these hosted services to help organizations engage with and understand their specific audiences.

Later in its lifecycle, Multicity launched the MultiAsk Live Event Q&A solution, a product available for both web and mobile, which included a branded app for clients' users to download. Despite its early funding and product development, the company is now considered deadpooled or out of business as of January 2002.