Blackthorn
Blackthorn provides Salesforce-native event management, payments, SMS messaging, and PCI compliance applications for organizations running on Salesforce, serving Higher Education, Healthcare, Nonprofit, and Government verticals via a genuinely native architecture with no middleware.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Blackthorn does
Blackthorn is a Salesforce-native event management and payments platform that converts a customer's existing Salesforce CRM into a full event lifecycle system. Its product suite centers on Blackthorn Events (registration, check-in, attendee management, analytics for in-person, virtual, and hybrid events) and extends into Payments (card/ACH transactions), Messaging (SMS, including SMS Paylink), Compliance (PCI detection and masking of credit card and PII data), and onsite add-ons (Smart Capture, Event Navigator, Badge Generator, Email Template Builder). The defining architectural choice is genuine nativeness: event data is stored as standard or custom Salesforce objects, inheriting the org's security model, permissions, and reporting, and consuming no API calls for core operations — eliminating middleware, sync layers, and reconciliation overhead that integrated competitors require.
The company sells primarily to enterprise and mid-market organizations in Higher Education, Healthcare, Nonprofits, and Government — verticals where event participation must tie directly to CRM records (student enrollment, donor pipelines, patient records, constituent engagement). Named customers include Harvard, Northwestern, UT Austin, USC Marshall, Utah State, AdventHealth, USO, BIO Girls, PMD Alliance, and IAB. Distribution combines direct enterprise sales (quote-based, "Book a Demo" prominent site-wide) with self-service discovery and installation through the Salesforce AppExchange, and Blackthorn states 350+ Salesforce teams run events on the platform.
Blackthorn generates revenue from recurring subscriptions on the Events core platform and add-on modules (Payments likely also carries transaction fees), with pricing handled via sales-led quotes rather than public tiers. The company raised $16 million in June 2022 (debt plus primary) and acquired Textey.io in November 2021 to bring SMS capabilities in-house. Leadership is co-founder/CEO Christopher Federspiel and CRO Stuart Croft, with headquarters in New York. Recent product activity includes the November 2025 launch of Smart Capture, Event Navigator, and Badge Generator; a January 2026 platform vision featuring an AI layer with pre-built dashboards and Salesforce Agentforce integration; and ongoing Messaging releases (v3.52 in March 2026).
Blackthorn firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Blackthorn
- Legal name
- Blackthorn
- Website
- https://blackthorn.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Blackthorn provides Salesforce-native event management, payments, SMS messaging, and PCI compliance applications for organizations running on Salesforce, serving Higher Education, Healthcare, Nonprofit, and Government verticals via a genuinely native architecture with no middleware.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Blackthorn industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Event Management Software (Salesforce-native)
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Fan Engagement & Onsite Technology (RFID, Cashless, Apps) (MPAGAAAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Processor-Agnostic / White-Label Acquiring Platforms (Acquiring-as-a-Service) (FSAMABAI), Bill Pay, Invoicing & Payables Platforms (BPAMAFAF)
Keywords
Where Blackthorn is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Blackthorn business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Blackthorn Events Platform Subscription: Subscription-based licensing for the core Salesforce-native event management platform, covering registration, check-in, analytics, and event operations. Pricing is likely tiered by org size or event volume, with annual subscription billing.
- Blackthorn Payments: Payment processing capabilities integrated within Salesforce, supporting card and ACH transactions. Revenue likely generated through transaction processing fees or bundled subscription pricing.
- Blackthorn Messaging: SMS/text messaging capabilities within Salesforce, enabling individual and bulk messaging, campaign automation, and two-way conversations. Available as an add-on module, originally acquired via Textey.io acquisition.
- Blackthorn Compliance: PCI compliance and data privacy module for Salesforce, detecting and masking credit card numbers and PII. Sold as an add-on to the core platform.
- Add-On Modules (Smart Capture, Navigator, Badge Generator): Individual add-on modules extending the core Events platform for onsite operations, mobile attendee experience, and badge generation. Available as separate or bundled subscriptions.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
Blackthorn product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Blackthorn builds and sells Salesforce-native event management and payment processing applications (Blackthorn Events, Payments, Messaging, and Compliance), distributed through the Salesforce AppExchange and direct enterprise sales. The apps enable organizations to run in-person, virtual, and hybrid events — including registration, payments, SMS outreach, PCI compliance, mobile check-in, and analytics — directly inside the customer's Salesforce CRM without middleware or API sync layers.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Blackthorn Events: Salesforce-native event management platform for in-person, virtual, and hybrid events with registration, check-in, and analytics.
- Blackthorn Payments
- Blackthorn Messaging
- Blackthorn Compliance
- Smart Capture
- Navigator
- Badge Generator
Products and services
- Blackthorn Events Salesforce-native event management platform that turns the customer's existing Salesforce CRM into event registration and management software. Supports in-person, virtual, and hybrid events with branded event pages, attendee registration, session management, check-in, attendee tracking, and real-time analytics dashboards. Designed for organizations on Salesforce (Higher Education, Healthcare, Nonprofit, Government).
- Blackthorn Payments
Quantifiable outcome
- Organizations using Salesforce-native event tech report positive event ROI; 82% report faster decision making
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Blackthorn
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Blackthorn technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
AI capability5 records
Feature13 records
Blackthorn partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Textey.io (Texe LLC)coreBlackthorn acquired Textey.io (also referred to as Textey LLC in one source) in November 2021 to integrate SMS/text messaging capabilities into its Salesforce-native platform. The acquisition enabled Blackthorn customers to send SMS Paylink transactions, facilitating faster payment completions and greater engagement. Textey had not raised venture capital funding prior to the acquisition, and the acquisition price was undisclosed. This acquisition expanded Blackthorn's app ecosystem within the Salesforce community and directly enhanced its mobile payment and communication services.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Blackthorn competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Cvent: Largest incumbent in event management software (registration, venue sourcing, onsite solutions). Comparable to Blackthorn for the event-management workflow, though Cvent serves the broader market rather than specializing as a Salesforce-native app.
- Eventbrite: Public consumer/self-service ticketing and event platform. Overlaps with Blackthorn on event registration and ticketing workflows, particularly for smaller and mid-market events; lacks Salesforce-native integration.
- Salesforce Industries: Salesforce's own vertical cloud products (Education Cloud, Nonprofit Cloud, Health Cloud) include event-adjacent capabilities. The most consequential competitor: Salesforce could natively bundle event features into Industries clouds, which would directly threaten Blackthorn's value proposition as a native AppExchange partner.
Direct peers
- Bizzabo: Enterprise event experience platform offering registration, onsite, and analytics. Directly competes with Blackthorn Events for mid-market and enterprise event teams; serves overlapping buyer personas though not Salesforce-native.
- Fonteva: Salesforce-native platform for associations and member-based organizations, with event management and membership modules. Most directly comparable Salesforce-native peer to Blackthorn, particularly for associations and membership-driven event programs.
- Whova: Event management platform with strong adoption among associations, nonprofits, and academic conferences. Competes with Blackthorn on event apps, registration, and attendee engagement for the same nonprofit and Higher Ed buyer personas.
- vFairs: Virtual and hybrid event platform serving enterprises, associations, and educational institutions. Overlaps with Blackthorn on virtual event registration, attendee engagement, and analytics for the same Higher Ed and Nonprofit verticals.
- Aventri: Event management software for enterprise event teams with registration, check-in, and reporting. Comparable to Blackthorn Events for mid-market and enterprise event programs across verticals.
Emerging players
- Hubilo: Cloud-based event platform with registration, engagement, and analytics features. Comparable to Blackthorn for virtual and hybrid events; serves marketing-led event teams with similar mid-market motion.
- MemberClicks: Association management software with built-in event and membership modules, often deployed on or alongside Salesforce. Comparable to Blackthorn for association and nonprofit event programs where member/constituent data lives in the CRM.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Blackthorn social profiles
Digital presenceBlackthorn compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Blackthorn financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Blackthorn leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Blackthorn subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Blackthorn funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Blackthorn M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Blackthorn
What does Blackthorn do?
Blackthorn builds and sells Salesforce-native event management and payment processing applications (Blackthorn Events, Payments, Messaging, and Compliance), distributed through the Salesforce AppExchange and direct enterprise sales. The apps enable organizations to run in-person, virtual, and hybrid events — including registration, payments, SMS outreach, PCI compliance, mobile check-in, and analytics — directly inside the customer's Salesforce CRM without middleware or API sync layers.
Is Blackthorn a public or private company?
Blackthorn is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Blackthorn founded?
Blackthorn was founded in 2015. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Blackthorn based?
Blackthorn is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Blackthorn make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Blackthorn Events Platform Subscription is the primary driver. The others are blackthorn Payments, blackthorn Messaging, blackthorn Compliance and add-On Modules (Smart Capture, Navigator, Badge Generator).
Who are Blackthorn's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Cvent, Eventbrite and Salesforce Industries. Direct peers are Bizzabo, Fonteva, Whova, vFairs and Aventri. Emerging players are Hubilo and MemberClicks.
Does Blackthorn have an API?
No public API is recorded for Blackthorn.
What industry is Blackthorn in?
Blackthorn's product category is Event Management Software (Salesforce-native). Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGAAAL, Fan Engagement & Onsite Technology (RFID, Cashless, Apps), with a secondary code of FSAMABAI, Processor-Agnostic / White-Label Acquiring Platforms (Acquiring-as-a-Service). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.