The consumer retail landscape faces a fundamental disconnect worth trillions of dollars: when brands sell through third-party retailers, they lose the direct relationship with their end customers, creating a black box that prevents meaningful engagement and data collection. This challenge has intensified with shifting privacy regulations, rising customer acquisition costs, and evolving consumer expectations for personalized experiences across all touchpoints. Brij solves this critical problem with its agentic AI-first platform that helps consumer brands collect and activate first-party data from offline interactions, converting anonymous retail transactions into direct, data-driven customer relationships. The platform empowers over 150 leading brands including Heineken, Sapporo, Feastables, and Black Diamond to seamlessly capture customer data through tools like warranty registration, sweepstakes, and rebates, driving up to $150 revenue per profile and converting 10x higher than existing solutions. With its intuitive, no-code design, Brij enables brands to launch omnichannel strategies globally in days rather than months, quantifying incremental revenue and delivering personalized interactions across every channel.
AlleyWatch sat down with Brij CEO and Cofounder Kait Stephens to learn more about the business, its future plans, and recent funding round.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?Brij raised an oversubscribed seed round of $8M from led by Bright Pixel Capital and CEAS Investments, the funding round also saw participation from Artemis Fund, Red Bike Capital, Lakehouse Ventures, Forum Ventures, and SuperAngel.Fund, alongside strategic angels from notable consumer brands such as Caraway, Brunt Workwear, and Feastables.
Tell us about the product or service that Brij offers.Brij is the leading agentic AI-first platform redefining omnichannel enablement by helping consumer brands collect and activate first-party data from offline interactions. By capturing valuable first-party data from offline customers, Brij helps brands understand consumer behaviors and preferences, allowing for more effective marketing strategies, improved customer relationships, and more revenue. With a focus on delivering actionable insights, Brij empowers over 150 leading brands to enhance customer engagement and drive revenue growth in an increasingly competitive retail landscape.
What inspired the start of Brij?As an investor in retail, I saw firsthand the challenge that brands have when selling through retail – it’s a black box. And fundamentally flawed. I left my job in investing and went back to Harvard Business School, where I met my cofounder. We launched Brij after graduation to “bridge” the offline & online for brands.
How is Brij different?Brij solves a critical challenge for consumer brands selling through third-party retail channels: the inability to maintain direct relationships with their consumers. Unlike existing point solutions or brand-built tools, Brij’s agentic AI-first platform empowers brands to seamlessly collect and optimize first-party data across a range of use cases, quantify the incremental revenue driven, and deliver personalized interactions across every channel. With its intuitive, no-code design, Brij enables brands to go live globally in just days, seamlessly integrating with their existing tech stack.
What market does Brij target and how big is it?Brij is targeting omnichannel brands and it presents a trillion-dollar opportunity.
What’s your business model?Our business model is SAAS.
How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown?We’ve always operated extremely efficiently, so we feel adequately prepared for an economic downturn. We also prioritize annual contracts paid upfront as a way to manage cash flow and burn.
What was the funding process like?We ran a very tight & quick process, which resulted in multiple term sheets and an oversubscribed round.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?One of the biggest challenges is distilling your entire business into a 10-page deck. There is so much that you want to say, but you need to simplify and tell the big story & vision.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Founder market fit. I’m a RETHINK Retail expert & thought leader in commerce with over 23K followers on LinkedIn. Zack is a seasoned product leader. We started the company after meeting at Harvard Business School.
Brij’s undeniable product market fit & rapid growth underscored by the quality of 150+ customers that we have including: Heineken, Sapporo, Feastables, Quip, Black Diamond, Black & Decker, Once Upon a Farm, Gozney, Momofuku, and ARMRA (sharing relevant slide below).
Clear ROI for customers – up to 40x ROI & averaging $85 of revenue per profile, translating to millions of dollars of revenue for our customers.
Customer love – senior stakeholders at large brands sing our praises.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
Accelerate agentic capabilities, including Brij experience building & actioning of data
Finalize MCP to enable full connections of Brij to LLMs
Scale GTM team across sales & marketing
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Tell your story on LinkedIn. I’m employing a “founder brand” strategy. It has been the biggest business changing thing that I have done. I started posting regularly about 2 years ago – now I have over 23K followers and it drives over 60% of our leads inbound. It has created unbelievable opportunities for us to get in front of customers & prospects in a capital-efficient way.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?Brij is an agentic AI-powered platform helping consumer brands redefine omnichannel enablement by unlocking and monetizing offline customer relationships. Over the near term, we are accelerating our agentic capabilities to become the agentic omnichannel engine for brands.
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