York-based quiz tech company SpeedQuizzing has recorded its strongest 30-day trading period since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, buoyed by strong demand for its recently launched virtual quiz hosting platform and app.

The company’s quizzing software is currently being used to host an average of 860 venue-based and virtual events a week.

While fewer than the 1,500 weekly events the company recorded prior to lockdown, it represents a marked contrast to the middle of March, when all events were cancelled due to the Covid-19 enforced closure of pubs and bars.

Back then, recognising that there would be no demand for its existing software, which was designed for use in pubs and bars, the team set about creating a new app and hosting platform that enabled users to remotely host and play virtual quizzes, in accordance with the lockdown restrictions.

Two weeks later, it unveiled SpeedQuizzing Live, created with hundreds of SpeedQuizzing hosts in mind, to provide a stopgap way for them to continue running quizzes and generate some income while pubs and bars were closed.

Six months on however, and with more and more pubs and bars opening again, the company is continuing to experience impressive demand for its virtual quiz platform and app, with SpeedQuizzing Live activations accounting for approximately half of all of its current activation sales.

The company is also experiencing increasing demand for its venue-based product, SpeedQuizzing Pro, as pubs and bars return to hosting quiz nights in a Covid-secure environment.

Alan Leach, co-founder of SpeedQuizzing, said: “We didn’t initially create SpeedQuizzing Live with sales in mind. It was created to provide the hundreds of hosts who used our Pro product in pubs and bars, with a way to host quizzes remotely and generate some income while pubs and bars were closed.

“Once pubs and bars reopened, we expected demand to drop off dramatically, but so far, we’re not seeing that, with SpeedQuizzing Live still accounting for a big chunk of our overall sales.

“We think SpeedQuizzing Live is helping to introduce a whole new audience to the fun and drama of quizzing, due to the fact that it makes hosting and playing fast-paced virtual pub quizzes so quick and easy.

“The main thing is that it’s helping to grow the size of the quizzing community and encourage more people to get involved, whether that’s down the pub or at home – and that can only be a good thing.”

Since the Live app and platform was created, SpeedQuizzing has introduced a host of new features to the software, including a grouping feature which enables players in different locations or bubbles to play as part of the same team.