Email marketing firm Avenlo is now 70% owned by performance-based ad group Matomy as of this morning (April 15).

Matomy has branded the move as a way of strengthening its capabilities in email acquisition, a field within the email marketing landscape which appears to have been rejuvenated by data-driven strategies.

Israel-based Matomy saw revenue from its own email marketing services, capable of running targeted campaigns on metrics such as CPA and CPM, increase 26% year on year in 2014. 

Estimates from Forrester predict the channel to generate $3.2 billion by 2019 in the US alone. 

With both stats in mind, Matomy says it will look to a majority stake in email acquisition specialist Avenlo to boost its position in email as well as its stateside presence.

Analysts believe the initial deal is worth in the region of $17.6 million, while early reports suggest Matomy will have the option to buy the remaining 30% stake over the next three years. 

Earning through email

At present, marketers can use Avenlo’s Connect Platform to launch highly targeted email campaigns across a range of devices, using the group’s bank of customer data to find the most appropriate audiences.

Direct marketers and agencies can use the platform to pair live user actions with Avenlo’s customer modelling algorithms, helping them pinpoint the people most likely to act upon their messages. 

This ability to drive email ROI by finding ideal customers represents a source of excitement for Matomy CEO Ofer Druker.  

“Data is a crucial element in performance-based advertising, and the data capabilities that Avenlo provides will assist Matomy across all of our media channels,” he commented.

“Avenlo has developed proven innovative technologies and solutions to email acquisition marketing, ad targeting and data management that will help fuel further growth in these important areas of our business.”

Branching out

While Matomy sets its sights on the US market, Avenlo is looking to the deal to enable some expansion of its own.

Joseph Freiman, co-founder of Avenlo and now a member of Matomy’s global management team, sees his new owner’s “international reach and infrastructure” helping to bring word of Avenlo’s offering out to additional markets.   

Although based in Canada, Avenlo claims to be able to reach up to 95% of US online visitors at each stage of the purchase funnel. 

Joining Freiman on the Matomy team are fellow co-founders in Rafael Alter and Chris DeDiego, who helped form Avenlo in 2012.