SWARM is approaching, and with it comes the promise of new loyalty program initiatives and customer experiences for mobile users all across South Africa.
A digital marketing and mobile development company, SWARM is a specialized designer of mobile loyalty program and customer engagement solutions. After making a splash with its customer-built loyalty program app for Kauai, a South African fresh food franchise, SWARM has since launched new versions of its app for two additional national franchises Wakaberry and Carlton Hair.
And based on the success it has already found, SWARM is poised for the next phase of its evolution, which comes by way of significant financial support from an IT venture capital consortium. This will ensure SWARM’s rapid expansion into the local hospitality market.
This IT venture capital consortium is comprised of experienced tech entrepreneurs and DVT software and solutions specialists who all possess a strong track record of success. It specifically selected SWARM because of its unique use of technology.
"With a solid grounding in the loyalty space and a long track record of blue chip mobile app development experience, SWARM is the only company in South Africa solely focused on developing a standout mobile loyalty solution," said Chris Wilkins, Investor and DVT chairman. "What attracted us most was SWARM's use of its own IP to create and develop a product that not only has headroom to win over the local market but also has exceptional forward potential in overseas markets as well. Having identified the company as the leader in its field we are keen to play an accelerator role to help it fast-track its growth potential using the know-how and established networks of our investment team."
SWARM is also very excited about the new support it has secured from the IT venture capital consortium, and it has high hopes for what this means for the company and the loyalty marketing industry going forward.
"The loyalty card industry is a major money spinner for South African brands, but to date there are very few solutions that marry paper-based or plastic loyalty card programs with the marketing potential, convenience and data-generating functionality of smartphones on top of a point-of-sale integrated loyalty solution," said SWARM co-founder and managing director Rowan Vlaming. "Companies are crying out for ways to replace their time consuming, labor intensive and fraud prone card-based systems with a more secure, easily accessible digital app, and that's exactly what we give them."