Toronto-based artificial intelligence and e-commerce startup Ecomtent has closed $1.15 million CAD ($850,000 USD) in pre-seed funding as it looks to continue scaling its AI-powered content generator for retailers.
The funding was led by MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund (MaRS IAF), with participation from Techstars, eBay Ventures, and undisclosed angel investors that include executives from the retail and tech industries.
“Longtail keyword matching is dead, and the future will be matching customer intent across both written and visual assets.”
Max Sinclair, Ecomtent
The startup’s solution lets sellers and retailers generate visual and written content with generative AI. The startup says this content is optimized explicitly for AI-powered search across large catalogues on platforms such as Amazon, Google, and Ebay.
“E-commerce is about to change fundamentally,” Ecomtent CEO Max Sinclair said in a statement. “Generative AI will completely transform how consumers shop online, with conversational-style search poised to become the new normal.”
“The current best SEO practices will look completely outdated in just 12 months,” Sinclair added. “Longtail keyword matching is dead, and the future will be matching customer intent across both written and visual assets.”
Ecomtent was founded in 2022 by Sinclair and CTO Timur Luguev. Sinclair previously spent six years on strategic initiatives at Amazon working on projects including the launch of Amazon in Singapore and launch of Amazon Grocery across the European Union. Luguev, for his part, has previously worked at TechBrew Robotics (now known as 4AG Robotics), as well as a postdoctoral researcher at the Germany-based Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits.
Last year, Ecomtent graduated from Techstars Future of Ecommerce accelerator, which is run in partnership with eBay. In a statement, the startup said it has completed pilots with several retailers, including two retailers with annual revenues of $11 billion and $14 billion, respectively.
RELATED: Global trends report shows AI adoption still lags in Canada
On its website, the startup says its product is trusted by home goods retailer Domu Brands, Amazon seller community Titan Network, brand marketing agency Ecomcy, and e-commerce platform Oslam.
The company is looking to be the “go-to solution” for the Amazon Seller and Amazon Agency communities. Its technology is patent pending, with a filing recently accepted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Ecomtent offers four pricing tiers for its solution, as listed on its website: a basic plan for sellers at $165 per month, a pro plan for sellers at $465 per month, a plan for agencies and aggregators at $1,500 per month, and an enterprise option with custom pricing.
This latest funding round will allow Ecomtent to expand its team, continue improving its AI technology, and scale its operations.
“We are excited by the unique composition of Ecomtent’s founding team, and the specialist AI talent from elite institutions they have recruited around them, to capitalize on this moment of incredible opportunity to build a category-defining business,” Emil Savov, managing director of MaRS IAF, said in a statement.
Feature image courtesy of Ecomtent.