Apester

Apester operates as a digital experience platform, providing tools for publishers, brands, and content creators to build and embed interactive elements into their online properties. The company was founded in 2011 by Moti Cohen and Daniel Zadok. Cohen, serving as CEO, drew inspiration from his interests in game theory, behavioral analysis, and music, envisioning a more engaging digital content experience beyond static articles and videos. He identified that the gaming industry excelled at using human psychology to drive user action, and he sought to apply similar principles to digital content.

The firm's core business revolves around a no-code, drag-and-drop editor that allows clients to create interactive units such as polls, quizzes, surveys, and story formats reminiscent of those on social media platforms. These embeddable experiences are designed to increase user engagement, boost time spent on a page, and drive social sharing. The platform serves a diverse clientele, including publishers in news, entertainment, finance, and technology, as well as e-commerce brands and other businesses seeking to enhance their content marketing. Notable past clients have included Time Inc., CNN, BBC, and Virgin. Apester's business model is subscription-based, with tiered pricing plans that offer varying levels of engagement and lead collection capabilities.

A key feature of the platform is the "Story" format, which allows publishers to create multi-slide, mobile-first narratives with integrated interactive elements like polls and quizzes. These stories can be distributed across a publisher's own website via a "Story Strip" carousel and can also be exported to social media channels like Instagram. Monetization is facilitated through the integration of a streaming video ad inventory within these interactive units. Beyond engagement, Apester's platform enables the collection of first-party and zero-party data, providing clients with insights into audience behavior and preferences, which can be used to personalize content and automate customer interactions. The company raised a total of $18 million over three funding rounds, culminating in a Series A round of $12 million in April 2016, led by Blumberg Capital. In May 2022, Apester was acquired by Sivota.

Keywords: content engagement, interactive content, digital publishing, audience engagement platform, lead generation, user engagement tools, first-party data collection, interactive storytelling, no-code platform, content monetization, polls, quizzes, surveys, brand engagement, content marketing software, customer experience, digital media tools, publisher solutions, interactive video, Sivota