Sam Farao

Sam Farao (born 7 January 1988) is a Norwegian entrepreneur and company founder known for affiliate marketing, fintech, and blockchain-related ventures, including Netpixel Media, Captana, Digital Empire/Loanstar, Banqr, Coinweb, and the Lightbulb Man NFT project.^[7]​^[8]​

Early Life

Born in Voss, Norway, in 1988, Sam grew up in a small town in Hordaland, Norway. While pursuing his high school education, Sam initiated his career in online drop shipping, managed to scale his business, and subsequently left school. He became attracted to affiliate marketing, launching numerous websites for different consumer niches using Pay-Per-Click and SEO. Sam experienced his initial success by capitalizing on untapped online marketing and sales strategies in Norway.^[1]​

Affiliate Marketing

After making his foray into dropshipping, Sam ventured into affiliate marketing, launching several sites targeting consumers, and adopted Pay-Per-Click and SEO as his business growth and profitability strategies.

Netpixel Media

In 2015, Sam co-established the affiliate marketing company Netpixel Media. Soon after its inception, the company partnered with one of Norway's largest online newspapers, Nettavisen. Through this collaboration, Sam capitalized on the newspaper's domain authority to expedite SEO efforts for their primary project, Nettavisen Rabattkoder - a comparison site for discount codes.

In just two months, the site achieved such remarkable affiliate marketing success that the partnership was expanded to encompass consumer loans and credit card comparison sites under the same brand. Collectively, these projects rapidly positioned Sam and Netpixel Media as dominant players in the Norwegian affiliate marketing sector.

Captana

Following the triumph of Netpixel Media, Sam co-founded Captana in 2017, a second venture into affiliate marketing. The company primarily focused on consumer loans and established itself as a significant consumer loans comparison specialist in the Norwegian market with the website Låne-penger.com.

Like Netpixel Media, Sam ensured the company's success and expansion by utilizing innovative affiliate marketing approaches, substantial investments in content marketing and SEO, and strategic affiliate partnerships.^[1]​

The Acquisition

In 2019, Netpixel Media and Captana finalized an asset sale involving four websites with the Swedish media house Speqta AB (publ). All websites were in the online comparison space for consumer loans and credit cards. This sale included the three successful sites created with Nettavisen - Nettavisen Rabattkoder, Nettavisen Kredittkort, Nettavisen Forbrukslån - and Låne-penger.com.

The total sale price was determined to be an upfront payment of 20.75 million Norwegian kroner (NOK), along with an additional earnout contingent upon the development of the assets in the subsequent 12 months (maximum 10.75 MNOK). The deal amounted to 31.5 million Norwegian kroner (NOK), equivalent to about $3.8 million USD.^[2]​

Digital Empire

In 2017, Sam co-founded Digital Empire AS, a holding company for the malta based Digital Takeover LTD. This marked his third large-scale venture into affiliate marketing, with the company launching several successful sites.

Casinor.com, a comparison site for online casinos operating in Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Germany, was developed into a leading information hub for the online casino space. In April 2020, the site was sold to an undisclosed buyer for a seven-figure amount; a deal considered a substantial win for the Maltese company.

In a statement commenting on the sale of Casinor.com, Sam Farao, Managing Director of the Malta-based Digital Takeover LTD, who handled the transaction, explained that the deal included a “no ranking guarantee,” which contributed to making the transaction attractive.^[3]

Digital Empire also launched and scaled the global comparison site Loanstar.com, operating in more than 14 countries worldwide.^[4]​

Banqr.com

Sam holds the position of Chief Executive Officer and founder of the global fintech company Banqr. The venture focuses on payment processing and revenue share partnerships to push Fintech AI forward through innovation and cross-border collaborations.^[5] Banqr AS was founded in 2018 in Oslo and operates within advertising and marketing services (reklamebyråvirksomhet).^[9] In its 2024 accounts, the company reported operating income of about NOK 0.86 million and a net loss, while maintaining relatively strong equity.^[9]​

Coinweb.com

Sam Farao is a co-founder of Coinweb, a Web3 comparison website, building on his prior experience in affiliate marketing and blockchain-focused projects such as Netpixel Media, Captana, and the Lightbulb Man NFT initiative.^[8]​

Lightbulbman.com

Sam, a long-time collector of Bjarne Melgaard's artwork, spearheaded a pioneering initiative in Norway's art scene. As the founder and curator of the Lightbulb Man project and co-owner of the rights via NFT AS together with Melgaard, he facilitated the creation of a blockchain-based art collection featuring the artist's work.^[10]​

This project involved the release and sale of 1,025 unique, digitally existing variations of Melgaard's Lightbulb Man as artworks on the Ethereum blockchain. Utilizing Non-Fungible Token (NFT) technology, each digital artwork was linked to a unique token, ensuring its authenticity and originality. A randomized algorithm matched each buyer with a unique Lightbulb Man piece upon the sale's completion.^[6]​^[10]​

The initiative aimed to redefine the nature and trade of art and democratize its procurement. All 1,025 NFTs were sold within 48 hours, which underscored the potential for blockchain-based projects to reach a broad audience in the art market.^[6]​