Group update

Nexad Is Redefining Digital Advertising by Embedding Personalized, Context-Aware Ads Directly into AI-Powered Interactions

Nexad, the first generative AI-native advertising platform, today announced a $6 million seed round co-led by Prosus Ventures and a16z, with participation from Sequoia Capital Scout Fund, Point72 Ventures, Carya Ventures, Umami Capital, and others. The funding will accelerate Nexad’s mission to build the ad infrastructure for an AI-first world—where search, discovery, and decision-making are increasingly driven by large language models and intelligent agents.

What Nexad Does

Until now, AI interfaces like chatbots and AI search engines had limited monetization paths: banner ads or paid subscriptions. But as conversational AI becomes the default interface for consumers, there's a critical gap: how do you serve relevant, non-disruptive ads in fluid, dialogue-based experiences?

Nexad fills this gap by enabling real-time, in-conversation advertising. It partners with AI publishers—search engines, chatbots, AI agents—and uses its Abotify API to analyze user queries in real time. It then dynamically generates personalized, context-aware ads that appear naturally within the AI’s response—creating a seamless user experience that still drives monetization.

For example:

• User: “Help me furnish my new house, low budget (+ picture)”
• AI (powered by LLM + Nexad: “You could add a sofa and a TV. The best option if you’re on a low budget is second-hand. We found these sofa options near you on OLX (sponsored), and a discounted TV on eMag (sponsored).”

These aren’t pre-scripted ads—they’re dynamically generated to match the intent, context, and even profile of each user, embedding naturally into the conversation and boosting relevance without disrupting the flow.

Why It Matters

This is a fundamental shift in how advertising works. Just as previous tech giants transformed digital ads through search, conversational AI is enabling a new paradigm: intent-first, dialogue-based monetization.

Nexad’s platform is built from the ground up for this new era. It turns every chat, search, or decision-making interaction into a monetization opportunity while respecting user experience. A self-reinforcing data flywheel means its system gets smarter and more performant over time.

Early results from pilot programs show:

• 30% increase in ROI
• 16% greater user engagement
• Up to 25% higher conversion rates compared to traditional digital ad campaigns

Nexad is already powering monetization for platforms like iAsk.Ai, Moescape.ai, Dippy AI, and Monica.im, proving its value across a range of generative AI tools and experiences.

“We’re not just building a new adtech company—we’re laying the foundation for a future where every AI interaction sparks discovery, drives business value, and respects user context,” said Jason Hu, co-founder and CEO of Nexad. “This funding allows us to accelerate our roadmap and help AI publishers unlock new revenue streams through dynamic, personalized ad experiences.”

“When we integrated Nexad into our AI search engine, it was like flipping a switch—ads began to blend so naturally that our users engaged with them as part of the conversation,” said Dominik Mazur, CEO of a popular AI search engine, iAsk.Ai. “We’ve seen 20% higher engagement and a 15% lift in follow-up search queries, a transformation that drives both revenue and user satisfaction.”

Nexad is already developing new formats like generative video ads, expanding integration with autonomous AI agents, and scaling its Abotify API to support more global publishers. As conversational interfaces become the primary mode of discovery, Nexad is poised to become the connective tissue between AI-native experiences and the broader e-commerce ecosystem.

Prosus Ventures’ investment in Nexad reflects its broader thesis of backing the next generation of marketplaces and infrastructure built for the AI era.

“In the near term, Nexad is powering more relevant, less disruptive ads inside B2C chatbots," said Javier Valverde, Investor at Prosus Ventures. “But looking ahead, we believe we’re heading toward a world where human interaction with the internet happens through conversations—not clicks. In that future, in-conversation advertising has the potential to drive some of the largest outcomes of this AI generation. Just as previous startups - now large giants - built massive ad platforms for the web and mobile eras, Nexad is building to be part of the next evolution, laying the foundation for the advertising marketplace of the conversational internet era. This aligns perfectly with our experience as investors in global consumer internet platforms and marketplaces, and we’re incredibly excited to back the Nexad team at this pivotal moment.”

To learn more about Prosus and the e-commerce and marketplaces revolution, see our latest report here.

+++