Kevel
Kevel is an API-first ad tech infrastructure company headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, founded in 2010 as Adzerk and rebranded in late 2020.
Position in SVTRnew
Snapshot 2026-10-22- Startup SignalsTop 50%
- Retail & MarketingTop 25%
About
Kevel is an API-first ad tech infrastructure company headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, founded in 2010 as Adzerk and rebranded in late 2020. It enables retailers, marketplaces and commerce platforms to build and scale owned retail/commerce media networks via its Ad Server, Kevel AI, Kevel Audience and Kevel Console products, serving customers such as Tesco, Dollar General, John Lewis, PayPal and SAS, and has acquired Velocidi (2022) and Nexta (2025).
Full tier & rationale — an SVTR Intelligence benefit
Capital graph
Investor· 4
Founders / team· 1
Funding history
- 2026-10-21New funding round$52M
Investors · Fulcrum Equity Partners, Dunnhumby Ventures, Iberis Capital, ORIX Corporation USASource · kevel.com ↗
Comparable companies· by market
This company
BusinessLatest roundTotal raisedDate- Kevel
Kevel is an API-first ad tech infrastructure company headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, founded in 2010 as Adzerk and rebranded in late 2020. It enables retailers, marketplaces and commerce platforms to build and scale owned retail/commerce media networks via its Ad Server, Kevel AI, Kevel Audience and Kevel Console products, serving customers such as Tesco, Dollar General, John Lewis, PayPal and SAS, and has acquired Velocidi (2022) and Nexta (2025).
$100M · 2026-10
$100M
United States
BusinessLatest roundTotal raisedDate- Afresh
Uses AI to help grocery retailers make ordering, replenishment and purchasing decisions
$182M · 2026-04
$182M - PubMatic
Independent sell-side ad platform (SSP) for web, app and CTV/streaming publishers: real-time programmatic auctions (incl. header bidding), identity resolution (Identity Hub), yield optimization, and agentic AI ad delivery and automated optimization (Activate, AgenticOS), serving global publishers and ad buyers
$76M
$76M - Placer.ai
Offline foot traffic and location analytics using anonymized mobile location data and machine learning to reconstruct visits to stores and trade areas, for retail, real estate and investment firms
Undisclosed · $75M · 2024-08 · Valuation $1.4B
$75MValuation $1.4B
China
BusinessLatest roundTotal raisedDate- LeapMind Growth
AI-native growth technology services; flagship product GrowthGPT for ad strategy, creative iteration and cross-platform campaign optimization
Angel · 2026-05
— - Mogic
Cloud video creative collaboration platform using AI to break down footage, batch-generate ad creatives and attribute performance at the clip level
Series A · $15M · 2024-02
$15M
Europe
BusinessLatest roundTotal raisedDate- pubX
Agent-to-agent ad trading infrastructure on the open AdCP protocol, letting brand buy-side agents and publisher sell-side agents negotiate and execute media deals directly, with embedded media quality governance signals
Series A · 2026-10
— - Duvo
AI agents for retail business processes
Series A · $48M · 2026-10
$48M - SeeChange Technologies
AI and machine vision systems that reduce retailer product losses from damage, theft and fraud
Seed · $10M · 2023-12
$10M
Other / unspecified
BusinessLatest roundTotal raisedDate- StackAdapt
Uses machine learning to analyze user behavior, predict optimal ad performance, and automate ad buying and placement across websites, video and connected TV
Undisclosed · $235M · 2025-02
$235M - Velocity
Ad monetization and growth infrastructure for AI apps, serving contextual ads in conversational AI interfaces based on real-time user intent.
Seed · $27M · 2026-07
$27M - Onebeat
AI and operational process suite helping retailers with store management, online sales, product assortment and more
Undisclosed · $10M · 2023-06
$10M
Confirmed rounds only. Matched on subsector, sector, stage and funding scale — each verifiable on the company profiles.
Investors that may fit
General Catalyst
12 Retail & Marketing deals in the last 24 months · 8 in US East Coast
Request intro →Sequoia Capital
11 Retail & Marketing deals in the last 24 months · 11 in US East Coast
Request intro →Bessemer Venture Partners
10 Retail & Marketing deals in the last 24 months · 4 in US East Coast
Request intro →Kleiner Perkins
10 Retail & Marketing deals in the last 24 months · 9 in US East Coast
Request intro →Ranked by each firm’s deals in this sector over the last 24 months, weighted by nearby stage and shared geography. Indicative only — no rating judgment.