Azoma wants to help brands win the AI shopping race. See the pitch deck that helped it raise $11.2 million. (www.businessinsider.com)

Azoma, a startup aimed at enhancing brand visibility in the burgeoning AI shopping landscape, has raised $11.2 million in a Series A funding round led by Puma Growth Partners. Founded in 2022, Azoma focuses on generative engine optimization (GEO) to ensure consumer-goods brands can effectively present their products to AI shopping assistants, which are increasingly influencing online purchases. With recent estimates predicting that AI-powered shopping assistants could drive up to $385 billion in U.S. e-commerce sales by 2030, Azoma targets major brands like Unilever and L'Oréal to help them navigate and optimize their presence across these emerging platforms. The company employs a unique approach it calls "agentic commerce optimization," enhancing product discoverability by tailoring branding strategies to align with large language models. This includes utilizing digital twin technology to simulate consumer demographics and advising brands on optimizing their content across platforms like YouTube and Reddit. As Azoma plans to expand its workforce and integrate data from Dunnhumby for better analytics, its targeted focus on commerce sets it apart from competitors, responding to the demand for specialized expertise in a rapidly evolving digital shopping environment.