Azoma wants to help brands win the AI shopping race. See the pitch deck that helped it raise $11.2 million.
Azoma, whose customers include Mars and Unilever, helps brands get their products in front of AI shopping agents.
Azoma, founded in 2022 by Timur Luguev and Max Sinclair, has secured $11.2 million in Series A funding to help brands optimize their visibility in AI shopping agents. The funding round was led by Puma Growth Partners.
Azoma's platform measures AI visibility among specific shoppers and provides tips to improve brand discoverability. It works with major platforms like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, Alexa for Shopping, and Walmart's Sparky. The company's technology, known as agentic commerce optimization, helps brands make their products more discoverable by large language models and more likely to be recommended by them.
Azoma's services include optimizing marketplace listings and content on platforms like YouTube and Reddit. They also use digital twin technology to simulate consumer demographics, enabling brands to target specific shoppers.
The startup plans to use the new funds to track across all the latest AI shopping agents, including Meta's Muse, OpenAI's Dots, and TikTok's new Shopping Assistant. Azoma currently employs between 40 to 80 people, with plans to expand further. The company charges a fee per brand, geography, and shopping agent.
The importance of AI-powered shopping assistants is evident, with Morgan Stanley estimating they could account for up to $385 billion in US e-commerce sales by 2030. Major retailers like Walmart and Amazon have already integrated AI shopping assistants, with Walmart's Sparky and Amazon's Alexa for Shopping driving increased spending among users.
Azoma's CEO, Max Sinclair, emphasizes the company's focus on commerce and its differentiated approach from other GEO platforms. He highlights the need for specialized knowledge in commerce, integrations, workflows, and team operations. Sinclair also mentions their plans to integrate data from Tesco-owned retail analytics company Dunnhumby to help brands determine the sales impact of increasing their presence on AI shopping platforms.
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