The patron retail panorama faces a basic disconnect price trillions of {dollars}: when manufacturers promote via third-party retailers, they lose the direct relationship with their finish prospects, making a black field that forestalls significant engagement and knowledge 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 vital downside with its agentic AI-first platform that helps shopper manufacturers acquire and activate first-party knowledge 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 knowledge via 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 permits 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 study extra concerning the enterprise, its future plans, and up to date funding spherical.
Who had been your buyers and the way a lot did you increase?Brij raised an oversubscribed seed spherical of $8M from led by Vibrant Pixel Capital and CEAS Investments, the funding spherical additionally noticed participation from Artemis Fund, Crimson Bike Capital, Lakehouse Ventures, Discussion board Ventures, and SuperAngel.Fund, alongside strategic angels from notable shopper manufacturers corresponding to Caraway, Brunt Workwear, and Feastables.
Inform us concerning the services or products that Brij provides.Brij is the main agentic AI-first platform redefining omnichannel enablement by serving to shopper manufacturers acquire and activate first-party knowledge from offline interactions. By capturing invaluable first-party knowledge from offline prospects, Brij helps manufacturers perceive shopper behaviors and preferences, permitting for more practical advertising and marketing methods, improved buyer relationships, and extra income. With a give attention to delivering actionable insights, Brij empowers over 150 main manufacturers to boost buyer engagement and drive income progress 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 via retail – it’s a black field. And basically flawed. I left my job in investing and went again to Harvard Enterprise Faculty, 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 vital problem for shopper manufacturers promoting via third-party retail channels: the shortcoming to keep up direct relationships with their shoppers. Not like present level options or brand-built instruments, Brij’s agentic AI-first platform empowers manufacturers to seamlessly acquire and optimize first-party knowledge throughout a variety of use circumstances, quantify the incremental income pushed, and ship personalised interactions throughout each channel. With its intuitive, no-code design, Brij permits 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 concentrating on omnichannel manufacturers and it presents a trillion-dollar alternative.
What’s your corporation mannequin?Our enterprise mannequin is SAAS.
How are you getting 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 method to handle money stream 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 most important challenges that you just confronted whereas elevating capital?One of many greatest challenges is distilling your whole enterprise right into a 10-page deck. There’s a lot that you just need to say, however you want to simplify and inform the massive story & imaginative and prescient.
What elements about your corporation led your buyers to put in writing the examine?
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 Faculty.
Brij’s simple product market match & speedy progress underscored by the standard of 150+ prospects that we’ve got together with: Heineken, Sapporo, Feastables, Quip, Black Diamond, Black & Decker, As soon as Upon a Farm, Gozney, Momofuku, and ARMRA (sharing related slide beneath).
Clear ROI for patrons – as much as 40x ROI & averaging $85 of income per profile, translating to hundreds of thousands of {dollars} of income for our prospects.
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 information
Finalize MCP to allow full connections of Brij to LLMs
Scale GTM group throughout gross sales & advertising and marketing
What recommendation are you able to supply corporations in New York that do not need 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 most important enterprise altering factor that I’ve carried out. I began posting repeatedly 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 shoppers & 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.