hello again lands mid-double-digit millions from EMERAM to expand across Europe
What's the deal? Austrian scaleup hello againDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has closed a growth equity round in the mid-double-digit millions of euros from Munich private equity firm EMERAMDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The investor takes a significant minority stake of more than 25%, while founders and early backers keep majority control and continue running the company. The company did not disclose a precise figure.
What does the company do? Founded in 2017 in Leonding near Linz, hello again runs a white-label SaaS platform for digital customer loyalty. Retailers, restaurants, bakeries, pharmacies, and leisure businesses use it to build their own loyalty apps with points systems, vouchers, and personalised messages.
By the numbers: The platform serves more than 1,000 customers — including DeichmannDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, MüllerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and L'OsteriaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — reaching roughly 18 million active users across 28 countries. In spring the company reported €10 million in annual recurring revenue, around 100 staff, and 15 million app users.
Why a minority stake? Private equity firms typically take majorities to resell portfolio companies at a profit later. Founder and chief executive officer Franz Tretter says the difference is simple: this is a growth financing, not a sale. Founders plus backers Hansi HansmannDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and the RuntasticDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → investors "remain in the clear majority and in the driver's seat," he said.
What's the money for? The capital will fund an "AI-Autopilot" that automatically drafts personalised messages and picks send times — which hello again says lifts revenue by an average of 8% — plus a "Mittelstand alliance" networking its customers, and expansion beyond the DACH region into more European markets.
Why now? Tretter says the deal came together in a rare position of strength. "We had five term sheets on the table, which isn't normal in the current climate. So we had the luck of being able to choose the perfect investor" (translated from German), he said. The business model scales with usage: clients pay a monthly fee per contact, so hello again earns more as loyalty apps grow.
The signal: A minority growth deal from a majority-focused private equity house points to a maturing European SaaS scaleup with recurring revenue attractive enough to draw non-VC capital on founder-friendly terms — even as the wider funding market stays tight.
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Image credit: hello again
