Cimulate – a leader in enterprise AI for commerce – announced it has raised $28 million in Series A funding led by Spark Capital with participation from its seed stage investors Sierra Ventures and Pillar VC, with additional participation from LFX Venture Partners and Commerce Ventures. This funding round will accelerate Cimulate’s mission to revolutionize commerce by offering transformative customer experiences through scalable personalization, with a foundation in generative-AI-based search.
Cimulate has created the industry’s first Commerce Experience Server, empowering retailers to deliver hyper-optimized content and context-aware search and discovery experiences. At the platform’s core is CustomerGPT, the Large Language Model-based operating system that addresses the limitations of legacy commerce technologies, enabling faster, more relevant, and conversion-driven shopping interactions. And CustomerGPT has delivered improvements in engagement above 20% and conversion above 10%.
Cimulate’s funding arrives at a pivotal moment for the commerce industry as hundreds of billions are lost annually to search abandonment. And the company’s Commerce Experience Server addresses this challenge by seamlessly integrating context, content, and customer insights, enabling retailers to harness the full potential of LLMs without compromising speed or scalability.
Cimulate was created by John Andrews and Vivek Farias, industry veterans with a track record of success in AI-powered retail innovation. Previously, the pair built Celect, an AI-based retail predictive analytics company acquired by Nike in 2019. Vivek (a professor at MIT) brings expertise in reinforcement learning and applied probability and John (a seasoned retail technology executive), delivers the strategy and execution to build a world-class product and organization. Their vision and technical expertise form the foundation of Cimulate’s revolutionary approach to enterprise AI, enabling the company to establish itself as a leader in providing tailored solutions that redefine how businesses interact with customers.
KEY QUOTES:
“Today’s commerce ecosystem is at a crossroads, with traditional search technologies failing to meet the expectations of modern consumers. CustomerGPT combines the power of LLMs with actionable insights to optimize every touchpoint in the customer journey, driving measurable outcomes for retailers.”
- John Andrews, CEO and Co-Founder of Cimulate
“Cimulate’s ability to deliver a scalable LLM-based solution that leverages unique enterprise data immediately positions them as a leader in AI-driven commerce. With their initial product focused on search, their innovative approach to transforming customer experiences sets them apart in this $2B commerce search market and the significantly larger commerce experience market.”
- Alex Finkelstein, Partner at Spark Capital
