Last week, Kevel, a Durham-based retail media infrastructure company, announced a $52M Series D raise. Per the initial release, this pushes the company’s total funding north of $100M.
The round includes expanded investments from existing partners Fulcrum Equity Partners, dunnhumby Ventures, and Iberis Capital, with additional growth capital from ORIX USA.
Kevel CEO James Avery said the strongest signal was that investors who know the business best chose to deepen their commitments. This, he said, reflects the progress Kevel has made building a global business, the momentum they’re seeing across commerce media, and investors’ confidence in the long-term vision.
Avery also told GrepBeat that this round included the addition of a local fund in Front Porch Venture Partners (GrepBeat’s own next-door neighbors, as it happens).
“I’m excited that Front Porch Venture Partners contributed,” he said. “Historically we struggled to get support from our local venture firms, so I’m glad to have them along for the ride.”
A refresher on Kevel
Founded (by Avery) as Adzerk in 2010, the company initially operated in the open web ad space. But Adzerk struggled to compete with Google’s ad server—then called DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP)—due to an arrangement that tied DFP to Google’s own add exchange (AdX), precluding other ad servers from equal access. (Incidentally, this arrangement was at the core of what was ruled to be an illegal monopoly maintained by Google in a case Avery testified in.)
It was that competitive disadvantage that led the company, rebranded as Kevel in December 2020 alongside an $11M Series A, to pivot—ultimately into retail media.
Today, Kevel provides a comprehensive commerce media platform with a particular emphasis on giving clients, including PayPal, Lyft, Dollar General, and Chewy, to name a few, full control over their data, technology, strategies, and results.
Global expansion and transparent AI
“This raise is really about accelerating the opportunities in front of us,” Avery said of the impact of the $52M round, noting that Kevel has seen strong momentum across commerce media. The funds will enable strategic scaling as well as some hiring, particularly in engineering, client services, and customer support as the customer base expands.
Beyond that broad outlook, Avery identified two clear priorities Kevel will focus on in light of the raise: global expansion and product innovation.
Regarding the former, Kevel is already investing in expanding its presence in international markets where they’re gaining traction, such as APAC and Brazil. While noting that the company operates largely remotely, Avery said these investments abroad might include securing office space and scaling up teams in places like Australia or Brazil.
He also said the company will be “exploring acquisition opportunities” that could help it become a “more complete partner” for retailers building and operating commerce media networks.
As for product innovation, Avery is focused on providing customers with autonomy and transparency.
“On the product side, we’re doubling down on what we believe will become a key differentiator in commerce media: transparent AI,” he shared. “Our AI decisioning gives retailers visibility into how ad-serving, ranking and optimization decisions are made, with greater control over the outcomes.” He also pointed out that retailers shouldn’t have to choose between decision visibility and AI-powered automation.
“Many AI-driven advertising tools operate as black boxes, whereas our focus is on making AI explainable, auditable and controllable. Retailers can understand why an ad was served, what signals influenced the decision and how to adjust outcomes when necessary.
“We believe the future is giving businesses the technology and expertise to operate independently while retaining the flexibility to build a media network around their own goals,” Avery added.
That’s where the product innovation dollars will be focused.
Next steps and building from NC
Looking to the immediate future within the larger priorities he outlined, Avery said the focus is on execution and continuing to support the major retailers choosing Kevel.
A little further down the line, he mentioned that a key milestone would be “helping retailers move from launching commerce media networks to operating mature, scalable businesses that can compete effectively across onsite, offsite and in-store environments.”
Amidst it all, Avery emphasized that one particular point of pride is that Kevel was founded and built in North Carolina and has grown into a global company, poised to expand service for some of the world’s largest retail and commerce businesses.
“We think it’s a strong reminder that category-defining technology companies can be built outside of traditional tech hubs,” he said. “We’re excited to continue creating innovation and talent opportunities from our home base while expanding globally.”
(Editor’s Note: Readers can learn more about James Avery and Kevel’s history in a past Friday Nooner episode and an edition of The Download.)
