Topguest
Social loyalty and infrastructure solutions for loyalty programs.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor investor investor investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
N/A | Acquisition | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Topguest was a technology company that offered social media-based loyalty and infrastructure solutions for major travel loyalty programs. Founded in June 2010 by Geoff Lewis, Ash Fontana, and Ozan Onay, the San Francisco-based startup aimed to connect loyalty programs with members' activities on social networks like Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram, and Twitter. Users could earn reward points and bonuses from partners such as Hilton HHonors, United MileagePlus, and IHG Priority Club for actions like geo-located check-ins.
The company's business model focused on two main areas: a consumer-facing application, Topguest.com, and a white-label B2B platform. The white-label product, which was in beta, allowed loyalty programs to create a fully branded social media component, using data from members' social activities to deliver targeted and customized offers. For travel companies, Topguest provided a tool to analyze social behavior and drive engagement, while consumers received tangible value from their social media use. The company secured $2.1 million in a Series A funding round in November 2010, with investors including Founders Fund.
In December 2011, after about 18 months of operation, Topguest was acquired by ezRez Software, a SaaS provider for travel, loyalty, and payment solutions. The acquisition was seen as a strategic move for ezRez to integrate social media engagement into its existing loyalty product suite. All Topguest employees joined the ezRez team, and the Topguest brand and platform continued to operate post-acquisition. Shortly after, in February 2012, ezRez Software rebranded to Switchfly, Inc. to better reflect its expanded range of services across multiple channels.
Keywords: social loyalty, travel rewards, loyalty program infrastructure, geo-located check-ins, B2B loyalty platform, customer engagement, social media integration, travel technology, rewards platform, white-label loyalty, airline loyalty, hotel rewards, frequent flyer programs, consumer loyalty, social analytics, mobile loyalty, customer data platform