The conversation around artificial intelligence has largely centered on building smarter models and more capable applications. But as AI adoption accelerates, another issue is moving into focus: how companies can turn growing usage into sustainable revenue.
Velocity is entering that conversation with fresh capital. The startup announced a $27 million seed funding round led by NFX and Red Dot Capital Partners, with participation from Stardom Ventures, Corner Ventures, and Transcend. The company is using the investment to expand a platform built to help AI-native software monetize users and improve distribution.
Founded by Tal Shoham, Amir Shaked, and Nimrod Zuta, Velocity is not building AI models or end-user applications. Instead, it is developing infrastructure that sits behind them, aiming to address what it sees as an emerging bottleneck for the industry.
A Different Problem for AI Companies
Generative AI has changed the economics of software development. Products that once required months of engineering work can now be built much faster, opening the door for an increasing number of AI-powered assistants, creative tools, coding platforms, and specialized applications.
Yet widespread adoption has not necessarily translated into sustainable revenue.
Many AI companies continue to depend on subscription models while supporting large numbers of free users. At the same time, inference costs continue to rise as applications become more sophisticated and users expect richer responses.
To bridge that gap, developers have increasingly relied on limiting access through prompt caps, premium features, and subscription walls. Velocity argues that these tactics can slow engagement before users have had enough time to appreciate the value of an application.
Its platform is designed to give developers another option by creating a complementary source of revenue through advertising integrated directly into AI experiences.
Moving Beyond Traditional Digital Advertising
Velocity’s approach is based on the idea that conversational AI changes the way advertising can work.
Instead of using cookies or historical browsing activity to determine relevance, the company focuses on the intent users express while interacting with AI. Every conversation provides clues about what someone is trying to accomplish, whether that is researching a topic, creating content, solving a problem, or making a purchase.
The company says its technology processes those conversations in real time, generating structured, privacy-safe intent signals that can power relevant recommendations inside AI applications.
The platform combines three core technologies: an AI-native advertising network, a mediation and auction layer that optimizes revenue opportunities, and conversation intelligence software that interprets user interactions.
For CEO and co-founder Tal Shoham, this represents an infrastructure opportunity rather than simply an advertising business.
“AI is becoming the dominant interface for software, creating entirely new opportunities around monetization and distribution,” Shoham said. “We believe the biggest opportunity of the AI era will not only be building products, but also monetizing and distributing them. We’re building the infrastructure layer that helps solve both.”
He said the company’s objective is to ensure monetization feels like a natural part of AI interactions rather than an interruption.
“AI monetization should feel native to the experience,” Shoham said. “Users expect AI interactions to be useful, contextual, and trustworthy. Our goal is monetization, recommendations, and product discovery that enhance the experience rather than interrupt it.”
Customer Feedback Points to Early Validation
Velocity says several AI-native companies have already adopted its platform.
Leadtech / MAU is among those early customers. Diego Díaz, CEO of the Subscription Division at Leadtech / MAU, described Velocity as “a great partner to work with,” highlighting the team’s responsiveness and collaborative approach. He added that the company has been impressed by both the product and the team and believes the partnership will lead to meaningful outcomes.
The startup also cited results from its work with AIBY’s Chaton application.
Artsiom Turavets, Lead Product Manager at AIBY (Chaton), said Velocity has delivered “strong performance while maintaining a high-quality user experience.” He noted that the company has achieved “meaningful monetization outcomes alongside healthy engagement and retention metrics,” while also praising Velocity’s ability to develop solutions tailored to customer needs.
Investors See a New Category Emerging
The investors backing Velocity believe AI-native software will require infrastructure purpose-built for its unique economics.
Gigi Levy-Weiss, General Partner at NFX, said every major technology shift creates opportunities for new infrastructure companies. He believes AI-native applications represent one of the largest emerging technology platforms and said Velocity is building “the growth infrastructure layer that enables that intent to drive monetization, distribution, and growth.”
Atad Peled, Partner at Red Dot Capital Partners, also pointed to user intent as a defining feature of AI applications. He said the founders’ experience building global software platforms, combined with their product and go-to-market expertise, positions the company to help establish this new infrastructure category.
Velocity sees its platform as part of a broader evolution in software. Rather than viewing intent as simply another source of advertising data, the company argues it will become the defining signal of AI computing.
As Shoham put it, “Every major platform has been built around a dominant signal. We believe the AI era will be built around intent, and we’re building the growth infrastructure layer to monetize and distribute through it.”
