In a landmark deal for the Romanian technology landscape, theMarketer—a high-growth customer data and email marketing platform—has officially entered into an agreement to acquire Conectoo. The latter, a seasoned email marketing asset previously under the umbrella of Conversion Marketing (a subsidiary of the eMAG Group), represents a strategic cornerstone for theMarketer’s ambitious expansion plans.
Announced in late June 2026, the transaction marks more than just a change in ownership; it signifies a broader market trend where retail giants are divesting from non-core technological infrastructure in favor of specialized, AI-driven partnerships. For theMarketer, the acquisition is a gateway into the high-stakes world of banking and enterprise retail, providing the scale necessary to pursue its next frontier: integrating WhatsApp and Model Context Protocol (MCP) layers for autonomous AI agents.
Main Facts: The Deal at a Glance
The acquisition of Conectoo by theMarketer is structured as an asset-heavy transition, focusing primarily on the migration of a sophisticated client portfolio.
- The Buyer: theMarketer, a Romanian martech innovator founded in 2023, known for its customer data platform (CDP) that bridges the gap between loyalty programs and automated email marketing.
- The Asset: Conectoo, an established email marketing platform with over a decade of history, known for its deep integration into the Romanian banking and enterprise retail sectors.
- The Seller: Conversion Marketing, the digital marketing agency arm of the eMAG Group, which has held the asset since 2013.
- The Objective: To accelerate theMarketer’s penetration into the enterprise segment and provide the financial and user-base volume required to fund advanced R&D in AI-agent infrastructure.
- The Financials: The specific terms and valuation of the deal remain undisclosed, though both parties have confirmed that integration efforts are already underway.
Chronology: From eMAG’s In-House Tool to Market Consolidation
The story of Conectoo is one of the most interesting trajectories in the Eastern European tech ecosystem. Originally founded by industry veteran Bogdan Iordache—the visionary behind the How to Web conference—Conectoo was acquired by eMAG’s agency, Conversion Marketing, in 2013.
For over a decade, Conectoo served as the engine room for eMAG’s extensive email marketing operations. During this period, it became a battle-tested infrastructure capable of handling the high-volume, high-security demands of a major regional retailer and its banking partners.
The timeline of this shift follows a clear narrative:
- 2013: Conversion Marketing acquires Conectoo to centralize eMAG’s communication capabilities.
- June 2023: Rareș Bănescu, the founder of the successful Romanian martech firm RetargetingBiz, launches theMarketer with a vision for modern, loyalty-integrated marketing automation.
- 2024: eMAG begins a series of strategic divestments, including the sale of its Tazz delivery app to Wolt, signaling a shift toward streamlining its core retail business.
- 2026 (Q2): The formal announcement of the acquisition. theMarketer begins the complex process of migrating Conectoo’s enterprise clients, with a projected six-month completion window.
Supporting Data: theMarketer’s Meteoric Rise
The acquisition serves as a testament to theMarketer’s rapid growth since its inception. In just three years, the platform has cultivated a footprint across 16 countries, claiming to support over 5,000 brands.
- Financial Velocity: theMarketer reports a cumulative turnover exceeding six million euros within its first 36 months of operation.
- Growth Metrics: The company recorded a 100% year-over-year revenue increase in 2025, buoyed by an 80% expansion in its client base. The current projections for 2026 aim for another doubling of revenue, a goal for which the Conectoo client book is expected to be a primary catalyst.
- Strategic Positioning: The deal is described as the first of several, with leadership currently engaged in "advanced talks" for further acquisitions both domestically and within the broader regional market. The ultimate goal is to cement theMarketer as the dominant player in Romania before launching a full-scale offensive into at least two additional European markets.
Implications: The End of "DIY" Infrastructure
For the broader email marketing industry, this transaction is a textbook example of "build-versus-buy" logic being reversed.
The Retailer’s Dilemma
For years, large retailers operated under the assumption that owning their own email infrastructure provided a competitive advantage in security and cost control. However, as AI, omnichannel requirements, and deliverability regulations have become increasingly complex, the cost of maintaining internal software has soared. By selling Conectoo to a specialized firm, eMAG is offloading the technical debt of platform maintenance while simultaneously securing a high-performance partner. eMAG will remain a client of the platform, shifting from an owner to a user—a transition that validates the "SaaS-first" maturity of the modern enterprise.
The Challenge of Migration
Industry experts caution that while the deal is a "win" on paper, the true test lies in the transition. Moving an enterprise-level email book—especially those in banking where security, compliance, and IP reputation are non-negotiable—is a technical tightrope walk. The success of this deal will not be measured by the contract signing, but by the "deliverability index" of the migrated accounts over the next six months. If theMarketer maintains the same, or higher, inbox placement rates for Conectoo’s legacy clients, the deal will be viewed as a masterclass in market consolidation.
The Road Ahead: WhatsApp and the AI Agent Revolution
Perhaps the most significant takeaway from the acquisition is not what theMarketer is buying, but what it intends to build. The company has publicly outlined a roadmap that moves beyond traditional email marketing.
1. The WhatsApp Pivot
As consumer behavior shifts away from traditional email toward real-time messaging apps, theMarketer is aggressively pursuing WhatsApp integration. By incorporating this into their stack, they are addressing the urgent need for marketers to engage users where they are most active.
2. The MCP Layer and AI Agents
The most ambitious aspect of the company’s vision is the implementation of an infrastructure based on the Model Context Protocol (MCP). The goal is to facilitate "AI agents" that can autonomously execute marketing campaigns. Rather than a human operator setting up rules and triggers, these agents would interact with the CDP to analyze customer behavior in real-time, generate personalized content, and deploy it across channels without manual intervention.
This move places theMarketer on the same development trajectory as global martech giants. By consolidating the market via acquisitions like Conectoo, the company is effectively aggregating the capital and customer density required to fund this high-cost, high-reward AI transition.
Conclusion: A New Era for Romanian MarTech
The acquisition of Conectoo by theMarketer is a clear indicator that the "fragmented tool" era of digital marketing is drawing to a close in Romania. As the industry moves toward consolidation, platforms are no longer just competing on features; they are competing on the ability to provide an intelligent, autonomous layer for customer interaction.
For theMarketer, the challenge is now twofold: it must execute a seamless migration of a critical enterprise client base while simultaneously building the next generation of AI-driven messaging tools. Should they succeed, the company will not only become the undisputed leader of the Romanian market but will also position itself as a formidable competitor on the international stage.
The next six months will be pivotal. As the transition unfolds, the eyes of the industry will be fixed on the deliverability metrics and the arrival of the promised MCP-based automation. If the transition holds, it will mark the beginning of a new, consolidated, and highly automated chapter for the region’s digital economy.
