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Azoma wants to help brands win the AI shopping race. See the pitch deck that helped it raise $11.2 million. Oct 21, 2026, 5:00 AM PT As people begin to delegate online purchases to AI assistants and agents, the startup Azoma wants to ensure its consumer-goods clients make the shopping list. Azoma works with brands to help their products be discovered by AI shopping agents and platforms, including OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, Alexa for Shopping, and Walmart's Sparky. The company exclusively told CMO Insider on Wednesday that it had raised an $11.2 million Series A funding round, led by Puma Growth Partners. Founded in 2022, Azoma initially focused on helping brands show up prominently in AI search and chatbots, operating in the fast-growing field of generative engine optimization, or GEO. Then, over the past year, at least a dozen new AI shopping assistants from retailers rolled out, alongside the launch of personal AI assistants like Meta's Muse, OpenAI's Dots, and Instinct, which can also make purchases on a user's behalf. In December, Morgan Stanley estimated that AI-powered shopping assistants could account for up to $385 billion in US e-commerce sales by 2030. "The space has evolved rapidly from customers just really caring about answer engines to caring about the other types as well," Azoma CEO Max Sinclair told CMO Insider. Azoma's customers include Unilever, L'Oréal, Reckitt, and Mars. It offers them a service it calls agentic commerce optimization, a technique that helps make their products more discoverable by large language models and more likely to be recommended by them. Azoma suggests actions the clients can take to improve their visibility, from honing their marketplace listings to optimizing their content on YouTube and Reddit. It also uses "digital twin" technology to simulate different consumer demographics, so brands can see how their products are presented to the specific shoppers they want to target. Sinclair said Azoma differs from other GEO companies because it's laser-focused on the commerce space and working with brands who sell physical goods. "Many of our customers have tried these generic GEO platforms and found that they don't understand commerce at all," Sinclair said. "They don't understand the integrations, they don't understand the workflows, they don't understand the existing tech stack, they don't understand how the teams work, how they're operated, how they're motivated." Sinclair said Azoma plans to invest the fresh funds in ensuring its technology can track across all the latest agents, from Meta's Muse to TikTok's new Shopping Assistant. The company charges a fee per brand, geography, and shopping agent. Sinclair estimated the company's head count would grow to around 80 to 100 people next year, up from 40 currently, as it ramps up hiring in areas including sales, customer success, AI research, software development, and operations. Azoma also plans to integrate data from the Tesco-owned retail analytics company Dunnhumby to help brands determine whether increasing their share of voice on a platform like ChatGPT translates into a sales lift at brick-and-mortar retailers. Dunnhumby Ventures also participated in the round, alongside Twinpath, Mars IAF, Rank Ventures, and Ignite Ventures. Check out the pitch deck Azoma used to secure its $11.2 million Series A investment, shared exclusively with CMO Insider. Some of the slides have been omitted or redacted.

Kevel secures $52 million to scale ai-driven infrastructure for the future of commerce media. GlobeNewswire Published Oct 21, 2026 Largest funding round to date accelerates product innovation, transparent AI decisioning, and global expansion for commerce networks DURHAM, North Carolina, Oct. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Kevel, the ad tech infrastructure empowering commerce businesses to build media networks they own and grow, today announced $52 million in new capital, marking the largest capital raise in the company's history. The financing includes expanded strategic investments from Fulcrum Equity Partners, dunnhumby Ventures LLC, Iberis Capital and additional growth capital from ORIX Corporation USA's ("ORIX USA") Growth Capital business. Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Kevel's total capital raised now exceeds $100 million, reflecting strong demand for its technology across the retail and commerce media industry. The continued support of investors like dunnhumby, the retail media arm of Tesco, reflects growing momentum behind retailer-owned media ecosystems. Dunnhumby's recent launch of the Dunnhumby Network Alliance (DNA), built in partnership with Kevel, also demonstrates an increase in industry-wide initiatives like this to drive greater scale and connectivity across retail media networks. Top Stories Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Kevel's API-first architecture gives retailers, marketplaces and commerce platforms the flexibility to build media businesses around their own customers, data and growth strategies. As commerce media enters its next stage of maturity, businesses are shifting focus from launching to scaling media networks, requiring infrastructure capable of supporting omnichannel activation and AI-powered decisioning. "Commerce media is entering a new era, one defined by ownership, transparency, and AI-driven infrastructure built around the business rather than intermediaries," said James Avery, Founder & CEO, Kevel. "To keep commerce media open and competitive, businesses must own their monetization and data. This raise enables us to scale the technology retailers and marketplaces need to build differentiated media networks, drive sustainable growth, and compete head-to-head with the largest platforms." Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Kevel is the leading commerce media platform, trusted by over 100+ commerce media networks, including Tesco, Dollar General Media Networks, John Lewis Partnership, Paypal, Scandinavian Airlines, Home Depot's Orange Apron Media, Nubank, and more, across North America, Europe, LATAM, and APAC. Kevel has a commitment to powering independent, privacy-first media networks for retailers, marketplaces and commerce platforms so they can compete with the walled gardens on their own terms. "Kevel has built an impressive, highly differentiated platform that enables customers to rapidly launch and scale retail media businesses tailored to their unique brands and audiences," said Blake Zhang, Managing Director in ORIX USA's Growth Capital business. "As the market continues to expand across on-site, off-site, in-store and other emerging channels, we believe Kevel is well positioned to help customers navigate that growing complexity and scale across an increasingly broad ecosystem. We are excited to partner with James and the Kevel team as they continue to innovate and help shape the next generation of retail media." This advertisement has not loaded yet. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The investment reinforces Kevel's position as the API-first infrastructure layer for AI-enabled commerce media, built on a simple principle: AI that retailers can see into, control, and trust. As AI becomes increasingly central to media monetization, retailers need real visibility into how decisions are made and confidence that those decisions align with their business goals. Kevel's transparent AI shows exactly how and why every ad decision is made, so retailers can prove performance to advertisers, protect the shopper experience, and keep full ownership of their data and models. "Kevel's continued investment in building cutting-edge infrastructure and AI to power commerce media networks is truly incredible," commented Philip Lewis, Partner, Fulcrum Equity Partners. "We are thrilled to continue investing to ensure that Kevel has the resources to support the complex needs of our partners." The funding will accelerate Kevel's next stage of growth, with transparent AI at the center of its product roadmap. The company will continue developing its AI decisioning and optimization capabilities so that every ranking, bid and placement decision is explainable, auditable and configurable by retailers. The company will also expand globally into new retail and commerce media categories and deepen its strategic advisory services, helping retailers at every stage of maturity put AI to work without giving up visibility or control. Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Cafferty & Company, an independent debt advisory firm, served as the sole advisor to Kevel on the transaction. About Kevel Kevel powers top retail and commerce media networks globally. Kevel helps businesses build a media network around its unique goals. This enables them to create differentiated media experiences, unlock new revenue streams, and scale in an AI-first world. Built API-first, Kevel combines the speed of buying with the control of building. Companies can use Kevel's transparent AI or bring their own data and models, giving them the flexibility to evolve their media business as customers, advertisers, and market opportunities change. The result is a media network that launches quickly, adapts continuously, and scales revenue over time. For more information, visit kevel.com. Media Contact This advertisement has not loaded yet. Quick Picks

Tesco puts influencers on the shelf in a retail-media shake-up. Tesco Media, powered by dunnhumby, has unveiled its biggest retail-media overhaul yet, adding a new ad platform, shoppable formats, on-site video, in-store influencer content and a fresh measurement framework to make brand budgets work harder. Tesco turns its shelves into a media network Tesco has set out its most ambitious retail-media plans to date. At its media upfront, the retailer and its data arm dunnhumby announced a new advertising platform, shoppable ad formats, smarter in-store media and, most eye-catching of all, influencer content brought directly into stores. The pitch is simplicity. Tesco says the changes are designed to make the retail-media experience easier to buy and to help brand creator spend work harder, backed by new AI tools for creative effectiveness and an expanded measurement framework. Why retail media keeps growing Retail media is the fastest-growing slice of advertising because it sits closest to the purchase. A supermarket knows what millions of shoppers actually buy, and that first-party data has become gold as third-party cookies fade. UK digital adspend topped twenty-one billion pounds in the first half of the year, with retail media a major driver. Tesco folding influencer content into the store is the telling part. It collapses the gap between social discovery and the shelf, so the creator who inspired a purchase can appear near the point of sale. That is the full-funnel loop brands have chased for years. Marketing Minute's read For big brands, the new measurement framework matters most. Retail media has long been criticised for marking its own homework; clearer, comparable metrics are what move budgets from test to always-on. Tesco knows trust in the numbers is the real unlock. For smaller advertisers, the warning is different. As the biggest retailers turn their shelves, screens and now influencers into ad inventory, the cost of visibility at the point of sale will climb. Independent brands should secure their own first-party data and direct customer relationships now, before renting that attention back becomes the only option left. What did Tesco announce at its media upfront? Tesco Media, powered by dunnhumby, announced a new ad platform, shoppable formats, on-site video, in-store influencer content, AI creative tools and an expanded measurement framework, all aimed at simplifying retail media. Why is retail media growing so fast? It sits closest to the point of purchase and runs on retailers' first-party shopper data, which has become more valuable as third-party cookies disappear. UK digital adspend passed twenty-one billion pounds in the first half of 2026. Retail media's weak spot has always been measurement, so Tesco fixing the numbers matters more than the shiny new formats. When brands can trust the data, retail media stops being an experiment and becomes a permanent line on the plan. - Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing The retailers with the shopper data are becoming the media owners. Own your first-party data now, or pay to rent attention back later. Is retail media a genuine growth channel for your business, or an expensive toll on your own shelf? Share your view. If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact Marketing Minute on [email protected] Sources: Marketing Week, The Drum, Retail Gazette and Retail Technology Innovation Hub. Related reading