Kevel has raised $52 million in new capital to accelerate development of its artificial intelligence-powered commerce media infrastructure and expand globally.
The financing represents the largest capital raise in Kevel’s history and brings the company’s total funding to more than $100 million. The round includes expanded strategic investments from Fulcrum Equity Partners, dunnhumby Ventures, and Iberis Capital, along with additional growth capital from ORIX Corporation USA’s Growth Capital business.
Kevel provides API-first advertising technology that enables retailers, marketplaces, and commerce platforms to build and operate their own media networks around proprietary customer data and business strategies.
The company said the new capital will support product innovation, expansion of its transparent AI capabilities, international growth, and additional strategic advisory services for commerce media operators.
Kevel currently supports more than 100 commerce media networks globally. Customers include Tesco, Dollar General Media Network, John Lewis Partnership, PayPal, Scandinavian Airlines, Home Depot’s Orange Apron Media, and Nubank across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific.
The company is positioning its technology as an alternative to large advertising platforms by enabling retailers and marketplaces to maintain ownership of their advertising infrastructure, customer data, and decision-making models.
AI will be a major focus of Kevel’s next stage of development. The company plans to expand decisioning and optimization tools designed to make ad rankings, bids, and placement decisions explainable, auditable, and configurable by customers.
Kevel said its approach is intended to give retailers visibility into why individual advertising decisions are made while allowing them to maintain control over shopper experiences, advertiser performance, and proprietary data.
The investment also comes as commerce media networks increasingly expand beyond on-site advertising into off-site, in-store, and other channels, creating a need for infrastructure capable of managing more complex omnichannel campaigns.
Kevel’s partnership with dunnhumby also includes the Dunnhumby Network Alliance, an initiative designed to provide greater scale and connectivity across retail media networks.
Cafferty & Company served as sole advisor to Kevel on the transaction.
KEY QUOTES:
“Commerce media is entering a new era, one defined by ownership, transparency, and AI-driven infrastructure built around the business rather than intermediaries. 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.”
James Avery, Founder And CEO Of Kevel
“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. 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.”
Blake Zhang, Managing Director In ORIX USA’s Growth Capital Business
“Kevel’s continued investment in building cutting-edge infrastructure and AI to power commerce media networks is truly incredible. We are thrilled to continue investing to ensure that Kevel has the resources to support the complex needs of our partners.”
Philip Lewis, Partner At Fulcrum Equity Partners
