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Key people at ePrize.
Based in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, ePrize provides digital engagement and loyalty software for enterprise marketing campaigns across internet, social media, and mobile platforms. The company operates with an estimated 201 to 500 employees and generates between $5 million and $25 million in annual revenue. Operating as a service-based platform, the firm designs interactive promotions, contests, and sweepstakes for more than 60 of the top 100 large-brand advertisers, including major corporate clients like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Domino's Pizza, Verizon, and P&G. After securing early investment from Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, the business expanded through multiple strategic acquisitions before being acquired by private equity firm Catterton Partners in 2012. The organization was later integrated into the customer experience agency Merkle in 2018 following a corporate rebrand to HelloWorld. ePrize was founded in 1999 by Josh Linkner.
ePrize was a pioneering digital promotions company founded in 1999, specializing in interactive sweepstakes, loyalty programs, online contests, and customer engagement campaigns for major brands.[1][4][5] It served Fortune 500 clients like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, P&G, General Motors, and American Express, solving the challenge of motivating consumer behavior through data-driven promotions that built direct relationships and generated actionable customer profiles.[1][4][5] The company expanded into mobile marketing, social media apps, and multichannel services, nearly doubling revenue and tripling clients in the years before its 2014 rebrand to HelloWorld, while administering four times more promotions than competitors.[1][3]
By 2012, ePrize had grown to manage over 8,500 campaigns across 44 countries, with acquisitions boosting its mobile and analytics capabilities, leading to its sale to private equity firm L Catterton (then Catterton Partners).[1][7] Headquartered in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, with over 400 employees in seven offices by the rebrand, it demonstrated strong growth momentum through strategic investments and partnerships, such as with SurveyMonkey.[1][4]
ePrize was founded in 1999 by Josh Linkner, who later became an independent investor and entrepreneurship consultant.[1] Starting as an interactive promotion agency in the multi-billion-dollar sweepstakes and reward programs space, it quickly gained traction with top brands, launching over 1,500 campaigns in 36 countries by 2006.[5] Early investors included Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, who joined the board after a $32 million financing round in 2006 led by Detroit business leaders like Gilbert, Brian Hermelin, and Gary Shiffman.[1][5]
The company evolved through aggressive expansion: by 2012, it acquired Cellit (mobile marketing), Mozes (live event activation), Bulbstorm (app engagement), Promotions.com, and a division of Apollo Data Technologies, shifting focus toward mobile (80% of campaigns by 2012, up from 20%) and generating $50 million in annual revenue.[1][3][6] In 2012, it sold to Greenwich, Conn.-based Catterton Partners, with founders Linkner and Gilbert exiting.[1][7] Pivotal moments included the 2014 rebrand to HelloWorld, reflecting growth into a SaaS platform for mobile, loyalty, and consumer engagement.[1][2]
ePrize stood out in the digital marketing landscape through:
ePrize rode the early 2000s wave of digital consumer engagement, capitalizing on the shift from traditional advertising to interactive, data-rich promotions amid rising internet and mobile adoption.[1][3][4] Its timing was ideal: founded just as online sweepstakes boomed, it preempted mobile marketing's explosion (e.g., 80% of campaigns mobile by 2012), influencing how brands like Coca-Cola and Microsoft used tech for loyalty and CRM.[1][3][5]
Market forces like multichannel consumer touchpoints and big data analytics favored ePrize, enabling it to build a moat through 6,000+ campaigns and partnerships that standardized promotions tech.[4] It shaped the ecosystem by incubating startups (e.g., LevelEleven in gamification) and paving the way for modern martech platforms, as seen in its evolution to HelloWorld's SaaS model.[1]
Post-2014 rebrand and L Catterton acquisition, ePrize as HelloWorld likely continued scaling in a martech market now dominated by AI-driven personalization and omnichannel engagement, building on its legacy of consumer behavior tech.[1][7] Next steps could involve deeper AI integrations for predictive loyalty or global expansion, shaped by trends like privacy regulations and Web3 incentives. Its influence may evolve from promotions pioneer to embedded martech infrastructure, empowering brands in a cookieless, mobile-first world—echoing its founding mission to cut through clutter with direct consumer connections.[1][4]
Key people at ePrize.
