Israel’s Yotpo acquires US firm Swell Rewards for undisclosed amount

Yotpo, an Israeli startup that enables companies to generate online reviews and content, has acquired Boston-based Swell Rewards, which has developed software for e-commerce loyalty programs, for an undisclosed amount of money.

“The acquisition of Swell brings us into one of the most significant chapters in Yotpo history,” Yotpo CEO and co-founder Tomer, said in a blogpost on the company website on Thursday, announcing the deal.

Yotpo helps firms create customer content by messaging users through email and SMS to get their reviews about a product they have purchased. It adds marketing features such as coupons, and enables customers to upload photos of themselves with the new product they have acquired.

Swell’s software enables brands to reward surfers for their efforts in promoting their products. The two companies had cooperated previously, enabling Yotpo to provide rewards for loyalty for its users.

This is the first acquisition for Yotpo, which has seen revenues surge some 823 percent in the past three years. Swell Rewards was set up in 2015, and has posted a yearly average growth of some 313%, Yotpo said in a statement.

The acquisition will combine “complementary advertising tools” to help maximize sales and “generate deeper insights into customer behavior, ” Tagrin said in the statement.

Yotofo was founded in 2011 by Omri Cohen and Tomer Tagrin, and has raised $101 million to date and employs more than 300 people in offices in Tel Aviv, New York and London.

Yotpo is currently recruiting 50 new employees in development and customer service roles to continue its global expansion, said Cohen in the statement.

“In combining our technologies,” wrote Tagrin, “brands will be able to more easily and effectively manage customer-driven activities, turn customers into advocates, and get a unified view of results and opportunities.”