Israel’s Tictuk acquired by Yum! Brands, owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell

Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum! Brands, Inc., whose brands include KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Israeli omnichannel ordering and marketing platform company Tictuk Technologies.

The Tel Aviv-based company was founded in 2016 by Tomer Ben-Ezra (CEO), Koby Ben Mordechai (CTO), and Liad Sasi (CMO). It will continue to offer its platform to existing clients as part of Yum! Brands. The acquisition price was not disclosed, but the buying company noted that it was an all-cash deal and that Tictuk is expected to help accelerate its ability to grow digital sales as it is deployed over time in markets around the world.

Tictuk’s technology allows users to complete orders and interact with brands through a variety of social media and chat channels, including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, SMS, QR codes, and email. It also leverages a hybrid of chat, web, advertisements, and intelligent marketing technology to engage with consumers.

According to a statement issued by Yum! Brands, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange at a valuation of $32 billion, it has already deployed Tictuk’s platform in approximately 900 KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell restaurants in 35 countries outside of the U.S. and plans to scale and offer Tictuk’s ordering and marketing capabilities to more markets and franchisees globally. In 2020, Yum! Brands’ digital sales hit a record of $17 billion, about a 45% increase over the prior year.

“Omnichannel ordering creates new opportunities for relevant and intimate engagement with customers and gives brands the ability to reach a wider audience. By developing an ecosystem that synergizes ordering technology with performance marketing and analytics, we are empowering brands to better serve customers and increase sales,” said Tomer Ben-Ezra. “We’re delighted to expand our relationship with Yum! Brands and join its family of global category-leading brands.”

“Tictuk has a proven track record of driving increased conversion, loyalty, and sales by making it even easier for customers to order our brands through their preferred social media or conversational channel,” said Clay Johnson, Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Yum! Brands. “With Tictuk, we’re able to offer our franchisees around the world an incredibly effective omnichannel ordering system that can be customized to every market’s needs and implemented within just a few days. We’re thrilled to have Tictuk join the growing Yum! technology portfolio, allowing us to offer more frictionless ordering experiences for our customers.”