Kevel Secures $52 Million to Scale AI-Driven Infrastructure for the Future of Commerce Media

Largest funding round to date accelerates product innovation, transparent AI decisioning, and global expansion for independent commerce networks.

Durham, North Carolina - October 21, 2026 - Kevel, the ad tech infrastructure empowering commerce businesses to build media networks they own and grow, today announced $52 million in new capital, marking the largest capital raise in the company's history. The financing includes expanded strategic investments from Fulcrum Equity Partners, dunnhumby Ventures LLC, Iberis Capital and additional growth capital from ORIX Corporation USA's ("ORIX USA") Growth Capital business.

Kevel's total capital raised now exceeds $100 million, reflecting strong demand for its technology across the retail and commerce media industry. The continued support of investors like dunnhumby, the retail media arm of Tesco, reflects growing momentum behind retailer-owned media ecosystems. Dunnhumby's recent launch of the Dunnhumby Network Alliance (DNA), built in partnership with Kevel, also demonstrates an increase in industry-wide initiatives like this to drive greater scale and connectivity across retail media networks.

Kevel's API-first architecture gives retailers, marketplaces and commerce platforms the flexibility to build and grow media businesses around their own customers, data and growth strategies. As commerce media enters its next stage of maturity, businesses are shifting their focus from launching media networks to scaling them, requiring infrastructure capable of supporting omnichannel activation and AI-powered decisioning.

"Commerce media is entering a new era, one defined by ownership, transparency, and AI-driven infrastructure built around the business rather than intermediaries," said James Avery, Founder & CEO, Kevel. "To keep commerce media open and competitive, businesses must own their monetization and data. This raise enables us to scale the technology retailers and marketplaces need to build differentiated media networks, drive sustainable growth, and compete head-to-head with the largest platforms."

Kevel is the leading commerce media platform, trusted by over 100+ commerce media networks, including Tesco, Dollar General Media Networks, John Lewis Partnership, Paypal, Scandinavian Airlines, Home Depot's Orange Apron Media, Nubank, and more, across North America, Europe, LATAM, and APAC. Kevel has a commitment to powering independent, privacy-first media networks for retailers, marketplaces and commerce platforms so they can compete with the walled gardens on their own terms.

"Kevel has built an impressive, highly differentiated platform that enables customers to rapidly launch and scale retail media businesses tailored to their unique brands and audiences," said Blake Zhang, Managing Director in ORIX USA's Growth Capital business. "As the market continues to expand across on-site, off-site, in-store and other emerging channels, we believe Kevel is well positioned to help customers navigate that growing complexity and scale across an increasingly broad ecosystem. We are excited to partner with James and the Kevel team as they continue to innovate and help shape the next generation of retail media."

The investment reinforces Kevel's position as the API-first infrastructure layer for AI-enabled commerce media, built on a simple principle: AI that retailers can see into, control, and trust. As AI becomes increasingly central to media monetization, retailers need real visibility into how decisions are made and confidence that those decisions align with their business goals. Kevel's transparent AI shows exactly how and why every ad decision is made, so retailers can prove performance to advertisers, protect the shopper experience, and keep full ownership of their data and models.

"Kevel's continued investment in building cutting-edge infrastructure and AI to power commerce media networks is truly incredible," commented Philip Lewis, Partner, Fulcrum Equity Partners. "We are thrilled to continue investing to ensure that Kevel has the resources to support the complex needs of our partners."

The funding will accelerate Kevel's next stage of growth, with transparent AI at the center of its product roadmap. The company will continue developing its AI decisioning and optimization capabilities so that every ranking, bid and placement decision is explainable, auditable and configurable by retailers. The company will also expand globally into new retail and commerce media categories and deepen its strategic advisory services, helping retailers at every stage of maturity put AI to work without giving up visibility or control.

Cafferty & Company, an independent debt advisory firm, served as the sole advisor to Kevel on the transaction.

About Kevel

Kevel powers top retail and commerce media networks globally. By combining technology, expertise, and support, Kevel helps each business build a media network around its unique goals. This enables them to create differentiated media experiences, unlock new revenue streams, and scale in an AI-first world. Built API-first, Kevel combines the speed of buying with the control of building. Companies can use Kevel's transparent AI or bring their own data and models, giving them the flexibility to evolve their media business as customers, advertisers, and market opportunities change. The result is a media network that launches quickly, adapts continuously, and scales revenue over time.

For more information, visit kevel.com.

About Fulcrum
Fulcrum Equity Partners is an Atlanta-based growth equity firm that gives entrepreneurs the capital and hands-on support they need to take their companies further, faster. Fulcrum invests in healthcare services and B2B tech executives searching for $5 million to $35 million of equity in minority and majority growth opportunities. Fulcrum's partners believe in building businesses the right way, meeting teams where they are, and helping them imagine a bigger and brighter future by building the right systems, processes, teams, and culture. All of that starts with the right experience, the right support, and the right relationship. Learn more at http://www.fulcrumep.com.

About ORIX Corporation USA
Established in the U.S. in 1981, ORIX USA is a diversified investment and asset management firm specializing in credit, real estate, private equity and managed solutions for middle market borrowers and investors. We combine the strength of our balance sheet with capital from third party investors, creating strong alignment of interests across our platforms.

ORIX USA and its subsidiaries-including ORIX Advisers, ORIX Capital Partners, Boston Financial, Lument, Hilco Global, and NXT Capital-employ approximately 2,100 professionals and manage $38.8 billion in assets and commitments as of September 22, 2026.

Our parent company, ORIX Corporation, is a publicly owned, global financial services company with operations in 30 countries and regions worldwide. ORIX's global business platform currently has $573 billion in assets under management. ORIX Corporation is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (8591) and the New York Stock Exchange (IX). For more information, visit orix.com

‍

For media inquiries, please contact:

Jennifer Choo

Director of Marketing

[email protected]