The patron retail panorama faces a basic disconnect price trillions of {dollars}: when manufacturers promote by means of third-party retailers, they lose the direct relationship with their finish clients, making a black field that stops significant engagement and information assortment. This problem has intensified with shifting privateness rules, rising buyer acquisition prices, and evolving shopper expectations for personalised experiences throughout all touchpoints. Brij solves this important downside with its agentic AI-first platform that helps shopper manufacturers gather and activate first-party information from offline interactions, changing nameless retail transactions into direct, data-driven buyer relationships. The platform empowers over 150 main manufacturers together with Heineken, Sapporo, Feastables, and Black Diamond to seamlessly seize buyer information by means of instruments like guarantee registration, sweepstakes, and rebates, driving as much as $150 income per profile and changing 10x larger than present options. With its intuitive, no-code design, Brij allows manufacturers to launch omnichannel methods globally in days quite than months, quantifying incremental income and delivering personalised interactions throughout each channel.
AlleyWatch sat down with Brij CEO and Cofounder Kait Stephens to be taught extra concerning the enterprise, its future plans, and up to date funding spherical.
Who have been your traders and the way a lot did you elevate?Brij raised an oversubscribed seed spherical of $8M from led by Vivid Pixel Capital and CEAS Investments, the funding spherical additionally noticed participation from Artemis Fund, Purple Bike Capital, Lakehouse Ventures, Discussion board Ventures, and SuperAngel.Fund, alongside strategic angels from notable shopper manufacturers reminiscent of Caraway, Brunt Workwear, and Feastables.
Inform us concerning the services or products that Brij affords.Brij is the main agentic AI-first platform redefining omnichannel enablement by serving to shopper manufacturers gather and activate first-party information from offline interactions. By capturing helpful first-party information from offline clients, Brij helps manufacturers perceive shopper behaviors and preferences, permitting for more practical advertising methods, improved buyer relationships, and extra income. With a deal with delivering actionable insights, Brij empowers over 150 main manufacturers to boost buyer engagement and drive income development in an more and more aggressive retail panorama.
What impressed the beginning of Brij?As an investor in retail, I noticed firsthand the problem that manufacturers have when promoting by means of retail – it’s a black field. And basically flawed. I left my job in investing and went again to Harvard Enterprise College, the place I met my cofounder. We launched Brij after commencement to “bridge” the offline & on-line for manufacturers.
How is Brij totally different?Brij solves a important problem for shopper manufacturers promoting by means of third-party retail channels: the shortcoming to keep up direct relationships with their shoppers. In contrast to present level options or brand-built instruments, Brij’s agentic AI-first platform empowers manufacturers to seamlessly gather and optimize first-party information throughout a variety of use instances, quantify the incremental income pushed, and ship personalised interactions throughout each channel. With its intuitive, no-code design, Brij allows manufacturers to go dwell globally in simply days, seamlessly integrating with their present tech stack.
What market does Brij goal and the way massive is it?Brij is focusing on omnichannel manufacturers and it presents a trillion-dollar alternative.
What’s your small business mannequin?Our enterprise mannequin is SAAS.
How are you making ready for a possible financial slowdown?We’ve all the time operated extraordinarily effectively, so we really feel adequately ready for an financial downturn. We additionally prioritize annual contracts paid upfront as a approach to handle money movement and burn.
What was the funding course of like?We ran a really tight & fast course of, which resulted in a number of time period sheets and an oversubscribed spherical.
What are the largest challenges that you simply confronted whereas elevating capital?One of many greatest challenges is distilling your total enterprise right into a 10-page deck. There’s a lot that you simply need to say, however that you must simplify and inform the massive story & imaginative and prescient.
What components about your small business led your traders to jot down the verify?
Founder market match. I’m a RETHINK Retail professional & thought chief in commerce with over 23K followers on LinkedIn. Zack is a seasoned product chief. We began the corporate after assembly at Harvard Enterprise College.
Brij’s plain product market match & speedy development underscored by the standard of 150+ clients that we’ve together with: Heineken, Sapporo, Feastables, Quip, Black Diamond, Black & Decker, As soon as Upon a Farm, Gozney, Momofuku, and ARMRA (sharing related slide under).
Clear ROI for patrons – as much as 40x ROI & averaging $85 of income per profile, translating to tens of millions of {dollars} of income for our clients.
Buyer love – senior stakeholders at giant manufacturers sing our praises.
What are the milestones you intend to realize within the subsequent six months?
Speed up agentic capabilities, together with Brij expertise constructing & actioning of knowledge
Finalize MCP to allow full connections of Brij to LLMs
Scale GTM staff throughout gross sales & advertising
What recommendation are you able to supply corporations in New York that should not have a contemporary injection of capital within the financial institution?
Inform your story on LinkedIn. I’m using a “founder model” technique. It has been the largest enterprise altering factor that I’ve performed. I began posting usually about 2 years in the past – now I’ve over 23K followers and it drives over 60% of our leads inbound. It has created unbelievable alternatives for us to get in entrance of consumers & prospects in a capital-efficient method.
The place do you see the corporate going now over the close to time period?Brij is an agentic AI-powered platform serving to shopper manufacturers redefine omnichannel enablement by unlocking and monetizing offline buyer relationships. Over the close to time period, we’re accelerating our agentic capabilities to develop into the agentic omnichannel engine for manufacturers.