hello again: Munich Private Equity Firm EMERAM Invests a Double-Digit Million Sum
Trending Topics Jakob Steinschaden
hello again raised a double-digit-million round from Munich firm EMERAM. The deal stays minority-owned, so the founders keep control and can push harder in Europe.
Based on reporting by Trending Topics, Jakob Steinschaden — read the original for the full story.
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hello again has pulled in growth money in the double-digit millions from EMERAM, the Munich private equity firm it just named as investor. The company won’t disclose the exact sum, but the number is said to be well above 10 million euros. EMERAM gets a stake of more than 25 percent. The founders and early backers stay in the majority and keep running the business.
That structure is the unusual part. Private equity groups like EMERAM usually buy control and look for an exit later. Here, founder and CEO Franz Tretter says plainly this is growth financing, not a sale. The money is meant to deepen hello again’s position in the DACH region, open more European markets and fund new A.I. features.
hello again was founded in 2017 in Leonding near Linz and sells a white-label SaaS platform for digital customer loyalty. Retailers, hospitality businesses, bakeries, pharmacies and leisure operators use it to launch their own apps with points, vouchers and personalized messages. The company says it has more than 1,000 customers, including Deichmann, Müller and L’Osteria, and that its apps reach about 18 million active users in 28 countries.
The timing matters. This spring, hello again said it had crossed 1,000 customers and 10 million euros in annual recurring revenue, with around 100 employees and 15 million app users at the time. It already counts Hansi Hansmann and Florian Gschwandtner among its investors. Tretter, who once worked as a product manager at Runtastic, said the company had five term sheets on the table and chose EMERAM for the fit, the chemistry and the mix of support and pressure.
The next bets are clear: an A.I. autopilot that drafts messages and picks the send time, partner perks that tie customers together in a “mid-market alliance,” and a more deliberate push into further European countries after DACH. EMERAM, founded in 2012 and managing more than 800 million euros, says it sees hello again as a strong team with scalable technology and a clear European growth plan.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is the rare private equity deal that doesn’t smell like a forced handover, and that alone makes it interesting. EMERAM is doing what more investors should do: back a company that already has traction instead of pretending every good business needs a takeover and a makeover. The bigger story is that European software can still attract capital without surrendering the steering wheel.
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