Two-year-old adtech startup TRENDii has raised $2.9 million in a seed round to help brands and media deliver marketing in a post-cookie online world.

The round was led by Investible and a strategic media partner. The capital is for international expansion; product improvement and category development; new technology; and building the partnership team.

TRENDii turns image and video content into direct shopping experiences for readers, through AI-driven contextual ads that enable direct purchases.

CEO Aaron Woolf said the platform will allow brands to find new customers with sustainable acquisition costs, provide a new way for publishers to monetize their content and provide audiences with relevant and privacy-friendly ads.

TRENDi creates contextual e-commerce within image and video content, using proprietary AI technology, enabling fashion and homewares to target consumers when they are most inspired to shop.

Wolff said shopping should be part of the consumer’s content experience, and seamlessly in the moment.

“We believe that good advertising should be done in a way that is non-intrusive and respectful to consumers, while also delivering massive scale for brands and high revenue for publishers,” he said.

“Contextual commerce has been difficult to achieve on a large scale, but TRENDii delivers an industry first: automated product focused on specific content. This gives consumers a better and richer content experience; new high-quality customer brands; and publishers strong, sustainable earnings.”

Already working with major media companies such as the Daily Mail, Are Media and News Corp, as well as US women’s brand PopSugar, the adtech startup is now looking to expand its partnership portfolio in the wake of the increase.

Investible investment manager Jayden Basha said the company is taking the next big step in consumer marketing.

“We’ve been following Aaron’s journey since 2018 and have been consistently impressed by his ability to turn a vision into a groundbreaking business,” he said.

“As the TRENDii platform evolved from a standalone D2C app to a contextual B2B advertising platform, the company’s potential skyrocketed. TRENDii is at the forefront of new advertising technology, empowering brands and revolutionizing contextual commerce.”