Just two years ago, the Israeli start-up Dynamic Yield was acquired by McDonald’s, for an impressive $300 million. However, it was announced earlier this year that the golden arches giant was looking for a new home for the Israeli start-up. The official announcement arrived this past Tuesday. The company that acquired the Israeli start-up is none other than the payments giant, Mastercard.
Liad Agmon is pushed aside.
The Israeli start-up allows sales sites to create a more personal sales experience for their customers, whether it is in the app, on the website, mobile or email. To do this, the system collects user information, which it connects to information from CRM and external information exchanges such as BlueKai (now Oracle DMP). Once customer segmentation occurs, the system automatically produces recommendation engines for products and content.
McDonald's used the Israeli start-up’s system to make various adjustments to the various menus presented to McDrive customers, the sales and delivery stations for vehicles. For example, Dynamic Yield's system automatically adjusts the menu for the day and offers coffee in the morning, and uses an automatic weather adjustment to offer cold ice-creams on hot days. Moreover, different recommendations and different menu items have been introduced following trends among other users. McDonalds will continue to work with Dynamic Yield.
However, even though the start-up was run as an independent start-up subordinate to the management of McDonald's in Chicago, the company decided earlier this year to focus on its core business and therefore expressed its desire to get rid of all unrelated activities. And so, they put the start-up’s activities on the shelf.
On Tuesday, Mastercard announced the deal, which is due to close in the first half of 2022. The details of the deal have not yet been released. As part of the acquisition, the company's current CTO, Uri Bauer, will be appointed to CEO of Dynamic Yield while Liad Agmon, the current CEO and one of the founders, will stay on in an advisory capacity.
Mastercard says they will use Dynamic Yield's product to enhance their customers' online shopping experience around the world, by making it more customized - whether it's customers purchasing products or business owners working with Mastercard.
“The notion of going into a store or opening a webpage to find an experience perfectly tailored to you is no longer farfetched. It’s a reality that more brands are deploying, and more consumers expect. With Dynamic Yield’s expertise and our scale and relationships, we’ll be able to bring the connections between the end consumer and our customers to new heights,” notes Raj Seshadri, President of Data & Services at Mastercard.