Funding · Enterprise Software & IT

Nudge raises $1.1 million pre-seed from s16vc

What they do

Nudge optimizes product discovery and purchase within AI interfaces like ChatGPT and Gemini

Founded in 2023 by Kanishka Thakur and Gaurav Rawat, it formally launched its agentic commerce platform in March 2026

Clients include L'Oreal and Nykaa, with revenue primarily from US customers as the Indian market grows

Nudge has raised $1.1 million in a pre-seed funding round for its AI-powered commerce platform.
The investment was led by s16vc, with participation from operators of Shopify, Nutanix, and Postman.
The startup formally launched its agentic commerce platform in March 2026 after focusing on personalization since 2023.
Its technology modifies shopping experiences dynamically based on user intent detected in AI prompts like those from ChatGPT.
Nudge currently serves over 25 paying customers including major brands like L'Oreal, Nykaa, and BigBasket.
Revenue is driven by a subscription model tied to the volume of commerce opportunities processed through its system.
The company plans to roll out AI-driven advertising workflows and onboard larger enterprise retail players soon.
Founder Kanishka Thakur previously built Klutchh, an esports fantasy platform that scaled to 50,000 users before failing.

Nudge addresses the growing need for e-commerce integration within emerging generative AI search and chat interfaces.
The funding validates the business model of optimizing product discovery directly inside AI agents rather than traditional web browsers.
Early traction with global brands demonstrates the viability of agentic commerce across different verticals like beauty and food.

Nudge operates an agentic commerce platform that integrates with AI models like Anthropic Claude and Google Gemini.
The Action Layer modifies product descriptions, reviews, and bundles in real-time based on specific user prompts.
It performs catalogue enrichment by updating product metadata based on consumer discussions across various AI platforms.
The system uses autonomous experimentation to create webpage variants, monitor performance, and retire underperformers automatically.
Pricing is subscription-based and scales according to the volume of agentic commerce opportunities the client processes.
The platform supports brands using Shopify and Salesforce Commerce Cloud for their underlying e-commerce infrastructure.
Nudge serves multiple verticals including apparel, beauty, fashion, food, health, and lifestyle sectors.
Major clients include L'Oreal, Nykaa, and BigBasket, indicating strong adoption among established consumer brands.
The majority of revenue comes from US-based customers, while the Indian market remains a smaller but growing segment.

Roll out AI-driven advertising workflows to enhance customer engagement and conversion rates.
Develop post-click purchase journeys to streamline the path from AI interaction to final transaction.
Onboard larger enterprise retail players spanning both ecommerce and offline retail channels.

s16vc (Lead) — Venture capital firm leading the pre-seed round.
Angel Investors (Participated) — Individuals who are operators at companies including Shopify, Nutanix, and Postman.