Optimove has announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Smartico, the company that brought gamification-led CRM marketing to the iGaming industry. The transaction is expected to close in the coming weeks.

As part of the agreement, both Optimove and Smartico will continue to operate as fully independent businesses, each maintaining its own brand, team, product strategy, roadmap, and market approach. The Smartico founders will continue to lead the company, retaining full decision-making authority over strategy, product roadmap, and day-to-day operations. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.

The acquisition comes at a time of sustained global growth in online gaming. According to the Online Gambling Market: Global Trends, Regulation & Forecast 2025–2033 report, the global online gambling market reached US$95.3 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach US$185.17 billion by 2033. At the same time, complexity is increasing across every major region — from maturing European markets navigating regulatory evolution, to a fragmented US landscape, to fast-growing regions across Latin America, Africa and Asia. For operators navigating this complexity, having genuine choice in CRM marketing platforms has never mattered more.

Optimove blazed the trail in CRM marketing for iGaming, creating the category and building the market. Over time, Optimove watched peers enter the space. One stood out. Smartico was the company that brought gamification combined with CRM marketing to the iGaming industry — at the time a genuinely new product category — and built a strong, disciplined business around it. The acquisition brings together two of the leading platforms in the space, reinforcing Optimove’s category leadership at a moment when the iGaming CRM market is transitioning from a growth phase to a more mature one.

The two companies come from different roots. Optimove was built on data analytics, now using deep intelligence to power AI decisioning agents that help operators understand, segment, and engage their players with personalized messages. Smartico revolutionized CRM marketing by embedding gamification directly into the player journey, driving deeper, more rewarding engagement. Today, they are amplifying that approach by infusing custom-built generative AI into every corner of their product, unlocking next-level innovation across their suite. Together, they represent the two defining starting points in iGaming CRM. As independent companies, each will continue to innovate and drive the industry forward.

“What impressed us about Smartico is the combination of product strength, service excellence, and the way the company has been built,” said Pini Yakuel, Founder and CEO of Optimove. “Like Optimove, they created a strong business that was bootstrapped. What began as a hobby by four enthusiasts driven by the challenge of player retention quickly evolved into something very real. They made smart investments, built an excellent team, and delivered genuine value to clients. Smartico was the competitor that stood out, and that’s because they did something original: they were first to bring gamification and CRM marketing together as a compelling marketing advantage that iGaming operators adopted. The category now has two leading platforms. We built one and we’ve backed the other.”

Arman Gal, CEO & Co-Founder of Smartico, said: “We’re proud to join forces with Optimove at such an important moment for the iGaming CRM industry. From the beginning, we built Smartico with a clear product vision, strong execution, and a deep commitment to creating real value for customers. We appreciate the trust that Pini and the Optimove team have placed in what we’ve built. “What makes this step especially meaningful for us is that Smartico remains fully independent, with the same leadership, the same team, and full control over our product strategy and roadmap. That allows us to keep moving forward as ourselves, while benefiting from greater strength and opportunity. “This partnership gives us more firepower to scale faster, serve the market even better, and continue innovating in the player engagement space we helped shape.”