Who’s behind hello again, what drives us, and what does our journey toward digitizing customer loyalty actually look like? On this page, you’ll find a complete overview: from the founding team to exciting team stories to the most important milestones in our company’s history.
hello again: Customer loyalty made easy!
hello again is your partner for custom apps and web implementations designed to foster digital customer loyalty and personalized communication. Digital loyalty clubs in the form of a customer loyalty app offer you incredibly versatile possibilities compared to traditional loyalty tools such as loyalty cards or stamp books:
Reach your customers anytime, anywhere —right on their smartphones—boost your revenue through larger order sizes and increased customer frequency, and attract new customers through your satisfied regulars.
The Loyalty Report 2026 highlights just how important digital customer loyalty is today: 82.4 percent of respondents in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland expect loyalty rewards that can be redeemed immediately, and those who use a customer loyalty program spend, on average, 27.9 percent more of their own accord. The trend toward digitalization is also clear: 73.8 percent of consumers would switch to a digital solution.
Our values
At its core, hello again is defined by five shared values that shape our work with clients and within our team—you can learn more about our team and our values here.
- Customer Success: The success of our clients and their customers takes precedence over our own. We are only successful if our clients are successful as well.
- Our Edge: We embrace digital transformation and innovation, and are constantly improving both our product and ourselves.
- Simplicity: The best solutions work seamlessly within the team, with customers, and within our technology.
- One Team: We work and celebrate together, with boundless energy and genuine camaraderie.
- Implementation: We always focus on effective and efficient implementation while keeping the big picture in mind.
Our History: Nine Years of Digital Customer Loyalty
It all began in 2017 with a simple observation: An analog plastic card at a nightclub in Linz was impractical and easy to lose. This late-night tinkering project gave rise to the idea for a digital loyalty app—and in March 2018, hello again GmbH was founded by Franz Tretter, Michael Schöndorfer, Mario Pecile, and Sebastian Auberger.
As early as 2020, more than 150 companies were using the solution; in 2022, the team continued to grow and moved to larger offices in Leonding. In its anniversary year of 2024, hello again celebrated five years of innovation with over 500 customers, around 90 employees, and a seven-figure investment from Alexander Igelsböck (Adverity) and Ibrahim Imam (PlanRadar).
In 2025, the platform surpassed the 15-million-user mark for its app in the DACH region and was already serving over 1,000 companies in 25 countries—with an ARR of 10 million euros.
hello again Today: Stats, Awards, and Outlook
On October 23, 2025, hello again celebrated, as part of the event „Howard 1000“ at the Ottakringer Brewery in Vienna, celebrating the milestone of surpassing 1,000 customers—with 45 percent growth and now more than 15 million app users. In addition to keynote speeches by ÖFB head coach Ralf Rangnick and investor Florian Gschwandtner, the hello again Loyalty Awards were presented for the first time, with recipients including L’Osteria, Klipp Frisör, and the Hager Bakery.
Under the internal project name „Hector,“ the team is already working on the next phase of growth and presented new features on stage, such as an app editor, an automation builder, and an AI co-pilot. Just a few months later, in the summer of 2026, the user base continued to grow to over 17 million app users. The stated goal remains ambitious: to become Europe’s leading player in digital customer engagement.
Whether it’s our founding story, team culture, or tangible successes—hello again is more than just an app. Our mission is to make customer engagement simple, digital, and effective for businesses of all sizes. From the initial idea in 2017 to over 1,000 clients and 16 million app users today, our story shows that those who consistently push the boundaries of digital customer loyalty remain relevant.
