As global markets face uncertainty, Cuil Bay Capital Chairman Doug Emslie explains why exhibitions are attracting record investment and entering their most exciting period in decades.
by Doug Emslie, Cuil Bay founder, originally published June 9, 2026 on TSNN
For the last 12 months, the global business environment has felt relentlessly unstable.
Liberation Day tariffs disrupted trade flows. The February AI market correction rattled technology valuations. Conflict escalation involving Iran reignited geopolitical anxiety across global markets. Capital has become more selective, confidence more fragile, and many industries have struggled to maintain momentum.
Yet exhibitions have remained remarkably resilient. In fact, the sector may be entering one of its most exciting periods in decades.
Like the recent London Marathon, where runners finally broke the two-hour barrier, the exhibitions industry appears to be crossing a psychological threshold proving not only its endurance but also its capacity to evolve faster than many expected.
Resilience Creates Confidence
Historically, exhibitions have been viewed as cyclical businesses, closely tied to economic confidence and international trade. But recent disruption has demonstrated something more important: face-to-face interaction is the moat.
In an increasingly digital world, the value of trusted in-person relationships is rising, not falling. AI can automate workflows, generate content and accelerate discovery, but it cannot fully replicate human connection, spontaneous meetings, commercial trust or the energy created when entire industries gather physically.
In many respects, the more AI commoditizes information, the more valuable trusted human networks become.
That reality is becoming increasingly important to investors.
Private equity firms are actively looking for sectors that are less exposed to AI disruption, and exhibitions are emerging as one of the more attractive areas within media and information services. The durability of live interaction, combined with recurring revenues and strong cash generation, makes the sector increasingly compelling.
This is one reason why exhibition M&A activity remains exceptionally strong.
Transaction volumes continue to rise, and the U.S. event M&A has grown significantly as a percentage of overall global event M&A activity. According to Goldman Sachs, we are only in year four of what has historically been a seven-year M&A cycle suggesting there may still be considerable runway ahead.
Recent transactions reinforce that momentum. The acquisitions of CloserStill Media, Emerald and Questex, highlights both the depth of investor appetite and the growing strategic importance of live events portfolios to private equity.
The announcement of the acquisition of Hyve Group last week further underlines the point. Despite geopolitical volatility, shifting capital markets and broader concerns around AI disruption, investors continue to deploy substantial capital into exhibitions. The sector is increasingly being viewed not simply as an events business, but as an owner of communities, relationships and commercial ecosystems that are difficult to replicate digitally.
The structure of capital markets is also shifting. Liquidity pressures within private equity are encouraging firms to seek durable businesses with resilient customer behaviour and pricing power. Exhibitions increasingly fit that profile.
At the same time, UK and European private equity firms are investing aggressively into the US market, attracted by scale, fragmentation and long-term growth potential.
The Rise of Accelerator Capital
Another important structural shift is underway: the emergence of accelerator capital inside the exhibition industry.
Traditionally, entrepreneurs launching events often faced a difficult choice: remain independent but undercapitalixed, or sell early to a large organizer. A new middle layer is now developing between those two extremes.
This is where firms such as Manta Media Capital and a small number of emerging sector-focused investment platforms are positioning themselves.
The next generation of industry platforms will not simply provide financial backing. They will help organizers strategically, operationally and commercially, providing infrastructure, launch expertise, sales capability, technology and international scaling support.
Manta Media Capital, for example, is positioning itself between traditional private equity and independent entrepreneurship, providing growth capital alongside operational and strategic support.
This model reflects a broader evolution across the events sector. Increasingly, success is not just about owning assets; it is about building ecosystems.
The Middle East: Short-Term Volatility, Long-Term Opportunity
The Middle East currently presents a complex picture.
Regional instability and geopolitical uncertainty are creating understandable caution in the short term. However, the long-term fundamentals remain compelling. Governments across the Gulf continue to invest heavily in diversification, innovation, tourism and business infrastructure. Events remain central to those ambitions.
This creates a major opportunity for new forms of industry partnership.
Manta’s recent Middle East launch reflects this trend. The goal is not simply to invest capital, but also to help strengthen the broader exhibition ecosystem supporting smaller operators that may need operational assistance today while helping international organizers enter the region without existing local infrastructure.
Over time, this kind of platform support should accelerate entrepreneurship across the region and create a stronger pipeline of globally relevant events.
The Next Generation of Events
Perhaps the most interesting development is where growth is actually coming from.
Some of the fastest-growing exhibitions today are not traditional trade events. They are emerging at the intersection of technology, innovation, venture capital and next-generation industry ecosystems.
New entrants are disrupting established sectors with formats that feel faster, more curated, more founder-led and more community-driven. Exhibitors themselves are changing, too. Increasingly, venture-backed startups and technology companies see exhibitions as critical platforms for distribution, fundraising and brand positioning.
Capital is beginning to follow this trend.
Investors are no longer only backing established organizers. They are increasingly looking at launch models, niche communities and high-growth verticals that can become the next major global event brands.
Businesses with heavy exposure to commoditized digital media also face growing pressure from AI-driven disruption. Information products that lack strong community or live engagement components may become increasingly vulnerable.
The winners in the next decade are likely to be businesses that combine content, community and commerce in ways AI cannot easily replicate.
A New Era for Exhibitions
The exhibition industry has always been resilient. What is changing now is the level of ambition.
The sector is attracting new forms of capital, new entrepreneurial energy and a new generation of operators building businesses differently from the past.
Breaking the two-hour marathon barrier was never just about speed. It represented a shift in what people believed was possible.
The exhibitions industry may be approaching a similar moment.
The industry is no longer simply demonstrating resilience. It is attracting capital, talent and innovation at a pace that suggests a fundamentally larger opportunity ahead.
The next decade may not be defined by whether exhibitions survive disruption. It may be defined by how much they grow because of it.