Kwanko

What Kwanko does

Kwanko SAS is a privately-held performance marketing company founded in 2003 and headquartered in Bourg-la-Reine, France, operating across eight countries in Europe (France, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Poland, UK, Italy) and Latin America (Brazil, Mexico). The company runs a 360-degree affiliate and performance marketing network, connecting more than 2,500 active advertisers with over 150,000 direct publishers and a database exceeding 500 million opt-in email addresses. Its core platform, SKALE, provides monitoring, tracking, reporting, ROI optimization, and anti-fraud tooling, augmented by proprietary modules including PartnerTag (retargeting technology), a Carbon Calculator for measuring campaign emissions, server-to-server and first-party tracking, and a 2025-launched statistical compensation mechanism for sales lost to cookie-consent rejections. Specialized vertical networks (Education Network, Finance Network) and a TikTok Shop offering extend coverage beyond a single horizontal offering.

The business model is performance-based: advertisers pay via CPA (Cost Per Acquisition), CPL (Cost Per Lead), CPC (Cost Per Click), or CPM (Cost Per Mille) rates, allowing the company to earn transaction-linked commissions on sales, leads, traffic, and app downloads generated through the publisher network. Go-to-market combines local enterprise sales teams in each operating country with self-serve advertiser and publisher portals. Kwanko generated cumulative client revenue in excess of €2 billion and serves enterprise reference customers across retail (Carrefour, Walmart, Samsung, Fnac), travel (Booking.com, trivago, AccorHotels), automotive (Volkswagen, BMW, Toyota, Audi, Renault), telecom (Orange, Vodafone), finance (Cofidis, Groupama, Swiss Life), energy (Engie), and education.

The company employs 51–100 people, remains founder-led by CEO François Bieber, has not taken identifiable external funding, and is distinguished operationally by deep GDPR/LGPD compliance, ISO 27001-aligned hosting, and consecutive years of EcoVadis (Silver) and Greenly (Gold) sustainability recognition.

Name

Kwanko

Legal name

Kwanko SAS

Website

https://kwanko.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Kwanko is a performance marketing platform that connects 2,500+ advertisers with 150,000+ publishers across Europe and Latin America for affiliate, lead generation, traffic, and app install campaigns.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performance Marketing Platform

NAICS

Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Other Services Related to Advertising (54189)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Affiliate Marketing & Partner Networks (BPAMALAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Affiliate & Partner Marketing (Performance Partnerships) (BPAFACAE), Affiliate Marketing & Partner Program Management (MPAAACAD)

Keywords

• Performance marketing platform
• Affiliate marketing network
• Lead generation services
• Programmatic advertising
• Publisher monetization tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Performance-based Affiliate Marketing: Kwanko charges advertisers based on performance outcomes including CPA (Cost Per Acquisition), CPL (Cost Per Lead), CPC (Cost Per Click), CPM (Cost Per Mille). The company earns commissions on sales, leads, traffic, and app downloads generated through their publisher network.
2. Email Marketing Services: Revenue generated through email marketing campaigns leveraging their database of 500 million+ opt-in email addresses. Advertisers pay for access to the email database and campaign management.
3. Technology Platform Services: Platform access fees for using Kwanko's tracking, monitoring, reporting, and anti-fraud technology suite.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Kwanko operates an international performance marketing platform that connects advertisers with a network of 150,000+ direct publishers to deliver affiliate marketing, lead generation, traffic, app installs, and influencer campaigns measured on a CPA/CPL/CPC/CPM basis. The SKALE platform provides campaign monitoring, tracking, reporting, ROI optimization, and anti-fraud tools, supported by vertical networks (Education, Finance), Kwanko Studio for creative production, and an email database of 500 million+ opt-in addresses.

Product overview

Kwanko is a performance marketing platform operating as a 360° partner for advertisers, publishers, and agencies. The core offering consists of affiliate marketing, lead generation, traffic management, app downloads, influencer/social ads, and Kwanko Studio for creative production. The platform is built around the SKALE management system providing monitoring, tracking, reporting, ROI optimization, and anti-fraud tools, supported by an international network of 150,000+ direct publishers and 500 million email addresses. Specialized vertical networks include the Education Network and Finance Network. Additional features include the Carbon Calculator for measuring campaign environmental impact, PartnerTag for retargeting, and a Program Directory for browsing campaigns. Kwanko Academy serves as the company's knowledge and content hub. The company also offers a TikTok Shop integration for social commerce.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SKALE Affiliate program management platform providing monitoring, tracking, reporting, ROI optimization, and anti-fraud tools for advertisers and publishers running performance marketing campaigns on a CPA, CPL, CPC, or CPM basis.
• Kwanko Studio Creative production studio delivering 100% performance-oriented creative solutions for campaigns across display, rich media, standard, and premium formats on behalf of advertisers.
• Education Network Specialized publisher network focused on the education sector, enabling advertisers to reach education-related audiences through performance-marketing partnerships.
• Finance Network Specialized publisher network focused on the finance sector, enabling financial-services advertisers to reach finance-interested audiences through performance-marketing partnerships.
• TikTok Shop Offering for TikTok Shop advertising, enabling brands to advertise and monetize content on the TikTok platform via Kwanko's performance marketing infrastructure.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2B+ EUR in revenue generated for clients
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers30 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• EcoVadiscoreOthers · 3 April 2026EcoVadis is the worldwide reference for corporate sustainability ratings. Kwanko has been audited by EcoVadis for four consecutive years, achieving Silver Medal status (74/100) in 2026, ranking in the top 6% of advertising sector companies and top 88th percentile globally.
• GreenlycoreOthersGreenly provides carbon footprint assessment and monitoring services. Kwanko achieved Gold Medal status for their greenhouse gas emissions management, reducing emissions from 6.7 to 4.4 kilotonnes. Greenly's platform helps Kwanko track and optimize their environmental impact.
• CPA (Syndicat du Marketing à la Performance)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCPA is the French professional syndicate for performance marketing. Kwanko is actively involved in the CPA, working closely with peers on industry standards, GDPR compliance documentation, and email marketing best practices. The CPA charter governs ethical standards for email marketing in France.
• ValiuzminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerValiuz is a technology alliance created by the Mulliez Family Association (AFM), uniting 19 brands including Auchan, Boulanger, Leroy Merlin, and Decathlon. With 50+ million customers across 3,520 stores and 1.7 billion omnichannel transactions, Valiuz collects, manages, and monetizes data for retail media purposes.
• IAB EuropeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKwanko is listed as an IAB Europe vendor member, participating in industry transparency initiatives for digital advertising.
• Institut du Numérique ResponsableminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKwanko is a signatory of the Responsible Digital Charter and member of the Institut du Numérique Responsable, promoting sustainability, accessibility, and transparency best practices in digital marketing.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Awin: Global affiliate marketing network headquartered in Europe with a similar two-sided advertiser/publisher model, comparable verticals, and direct head-to-head competition for European enterprise budgets.
• CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction): One of the largest global affiliate networks, owned by Publicis-owned affiliate platform group; competes directly with Kwanko for enterprise advertisers and operates a comparable CPA/CPL/CPC model.
• Rakuten Advertising: Global affiliate and performance marketing network under the Rakuten umbrella offering affiliate program management, attribution, and influencer capabilities overlapping with Kwanko's SKALE platform.
• Tradedoubler: European-headquartered performance marketing and affiliate network with very similar geographic footprint (pan-European) and comparable advertiser base in retail, finance, and travel verticals.
• Webgains: European-focused affiliate network with advertiser and publisher interfaces analogous to SKALE; competes for the same mid-market and enterprise advertisers across UK, Germany, France, and Spain.
• Impact: SaaS-style partner and affiliate marketing platform serving global enterprises; competes directly with Kwanko on tracking technology, partner discovery, and contract/payout automation.
• Partnerize: Affiliate and partner marketing SaaS platform with similar capabilities (tracking, attribution, anti-fraud, partner discovery) overlapping Kwanko's core SKALE offering.
• Admitad: Global affiliate network with strong European and LATAM presence, similar two-sided publisher/advertiser model, and direct overlap in retail, e-commerce, and finance verticals.

Broad incumbents

• Taboola: Larger native advertising and content-discovery platform overlapping with Kwanko's publisher monetization value proposition, but operating as a broader advertising incumbent rather than a pure affiliate network.
• The Trade Desk: Demand-side platform with growing performance and retail-media commerce capabilities; competes with Kwanko for advertiser budgets at the high end, though distinct in business model (DSP vs affiliate network).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kwankogroup
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC6LicX0T6rb3JO5BA-4BbTQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/kwankogroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kwanko---netaffiliation
• Instagraminstagram.com/kwankogroup

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kwanko