Optimove had a page on their site explaining why they were better than Smartico.
Now they own Smartico.
That is not embarrassing. That is the sharpest kind of due diligence. Competing against someone long enough to know exactly what they built.
Optimove signed an agreement to acquire Smartico. The company that welded gamification into CRM marketing before anyone else in iGaming thought to try.
Here is what makes this interesting. Optimove already had Optimove Gamify, their own loyalty and gamification platform. They acquired Adact twelve months ago for the same reason. And they still went after Smartico.
Three bets on gamification in one portfolio. That is not hedging. That is a company that decided this category is worth owning from every angle.
But the structure tells you more than the strategy.
Smartico's founders keep full authority. Own brand. Own roadmap. Own team. Own pricing. The two products will keep competing against each other. Optimove did not buy a company to absorb it. They bought a company they could not replicate, and gave them the resources to run faster.
I work with Smartico. I have watched Arman Gal and his team build this up close. Four people started with a retention puzzle. Now they are the gamification standard operators actually adopted. Because the product worked, not because the pitch deck was pretty.
Pini Yakuel said it plainly: "Smartico was the competitor that stood out."
When a CEO says that about the company he is acquiring, then structures the deal so they keep running independently, that is not consolidation. That is respect backed by a cheque.
The question for the rest of the market: if a $95B industry projected to double by 2033 now has two leading CRM platforms under one roof - both still competing - what exactly is your gamification strategy?
Disclosure: Smartico is a Kyborg partner.