Antavo Appoints New Chairman to Support Global Expansion
March 15, 2023
Loyalty is a major focus for brands, with Antavo’s latest Global Customer Loyalty Report revealing almost 90% of businesses trust that loyalty initiatives will help them overcome the global inflation crisis.
Antavo, the Enterprise Loyalty Cloud platform, has appointed Zoltan Vardy as chairman as the business continues to scale internationally.
Antavo provides businesses with best-in-class technology to manage experience-based loyalty programs and successfully closed a €10M Series A round in November. The global brand has now bolstered its leadership team with the appointment of Zoltan Vardy, who brings with him a wealth of experience having closed $2 billion in B2B enterprise sales over the course of his 30-year career as a senior corporate executive, entrepreneur and investor.
He is a proven leader in driving international growth, as well as an expert in helping B2B tech startups sell and market to enterprise customers globally.
Zoltan Vardy’s global business background, including as former Senior Vice President/Global Ad Sales at NBC Universal International, combined with his extensive experience in Central and Eastern Europe is a major benefit to Antavo, which was founded in 2012 by four Hungarian co-founders in London. He has extensive previous success in helping businesses from the CEE region reach bigger markets and recognises the potential for startups to scale globally from this part of the world.
Commenting on his appointment, Zoltan said: “Antavo’s recent success is extremely impressive and as an increasing number of brands turn to loyalty to keep customers engaged during an economic downturn, the potential for continued growth is huge.
“During my time as an executive, entrepreneur and advisor, I’ve faced many of the challenges that leaders experience on the journey to breaking into global markets and I look forward to helping the business sharpen its focus, scale its sales and execute its ongoing international growth strategy with impact.”
In the last 2 years, Antavo has signed major global brand customers including BMW, KFC, Kathmandu and BrewDog, resulting in 3.2X year-on-year growth and a three-fold increase in headcount. Over the coming months, the business is set to continue reinvesting in its technology for greater omnichannel capabilities and superior integration with more apps and platforms.
Antavo co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Attila Kecsmar added: “Following a highly successful two years, the business has reached a crucial stage in our growth strategy. We’ve made great strides already and with recent investment and now Zoltan’s expert mentorship, we can continue to develop a powerful, world-first SaaS loyalty product.
“We’re thrilled to bring such talent and knowledge to the board and I’ve no doubt that he will play a crucial part in helping Antavo navigate the coming months as we make ambitious plans a reality.”
Zoltan was an early investor and board member of Brainient, which was acquired by Teads in 2016 and also acted as an advisor to Dexory, formerly BotsAndUs. He has mentored more than 200 startup founders in 25 countries using his proprietary business development blueprint, called The Launch Code.
What is Antavo?
Antavo is the AI loyalty and incentives platform that brings together loyalty, promotions, and agentic AI to turn customers into regulars: the customers who come back on their own, buy more often, and bring others with them. For more than a decade, Antavo has powered identity-led loyalty strategies for brands including SKIMS, Paul Smith, KFC, Flying Tiger, and Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection. Marketers build, change, and launch programs and promotions themselves, without waiting on engineering. Learn more at antavo.com.
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Frequently asked questions about Antavo
What can brands build with Antavo?
Brands use Antavo to run the whole loyalty and incentives program on one platform: points, tiers, challenges, streaks, referrals, clubs, and rewards beyond discounts; promotions and incentives for members and non-members alike, from bonus points and promo codes to bundles and cart-level offers; and agentic AI built in. Everything runs online, in store, on mobile, and in wallet, and marketers launch it themselves.
Who uses Antavo?
Antavo works with mid-market and upper-mid-market brands across fashion, retail, beauty, travel, hospitality, restaurants, and sports in North America and Europe: multi-market, omnichannel brands with a strong identity and customers worth keeping, including Paul Smith, KFC, SKIMS, Rip Curl, Benefit Cosmetics, and Hyatt's Inclusive Collection.
How long has Antavo been around?
Antavo was founded in 2012 and has been building loyalty programs for more than a decade, with teams across Europe and North America serving brands worldwide.
Why do brands switch to Antavo?
Most loyalty programs get stuck: reduced to a discount engine, generic to customers, or too rigid to evolve. Antavo removes those compromises. Brands get a program that feels unmistakably their own, loyalty and incentives on one platform, and the depth to handle tiers, expirations, refunds, and many markets at scale. Their own marketers run it: a tier change in an afternoon, live when they press the button.
How does Antavo use AI?
Antavo's agentic AI is built in, not bolted on. Two named agents do the work: the AI Loyalty Expert, which turns your ideas into a build-ready program, and the AI Analyst, which turns your data into clear answers and reports. Both work inside Antavo or connect to Claude and ChatGPT, and every answer is grounded in your own program and data.
What does Antavo integrate with?
Antavo is API-first with real-time webhooks and deep pre-built integrations, from Shopify, Klaviyo, Braze, and Bloomreach to the CRMs, CDPs, ESPs, and POS systems you already use. Antavo plugs into the stack you already run rather than replacing it.
