AI is no longer merely writing phishing emails. It is probing networks, exploiting access and directing intrusions at scale. As investigations expose both malicious agents and runaway security tools, businesses face a defining question: who controls the software acting on their behalf in real time?
IBM survived Washington and still lost the layer that mattered. Wall Street now fears the same fate for AI: the Nasdaq in correction, Seoul halting trades, CoreWeave’s default insurance at a record. Congress may not stop the race. Whoever controls the power, chips and credit may decide it instead.
Wall Street’s post-election relief gave way to a sharp AI sell-off last night, as investors weighed construction delays, borrowing costs and political scrutiny. With chipmakers leading the losses, the question is becoming more urgent: which businesses can afford to wait for the promised returns?
AI Startup: Spangle AI Raises $15M for Agentic Commerce Infrastructure
Spangle AI, a startup founded by former Amazon and Bolt executives, has raised $15 million in a Series A round to build an agentic infrastructure for ecommerce. The platform connects AI-driven product discovery with real-time conversion.
Spangle AI, a Seattle-based startup, has secured millions in a Series A funding round to expand its AI-driven commerce platform. Founded in 2024 by former Amazon and retail technology executives, Spangle AI is developing an "agentic" infrastructure layer for ecommerce. The company aims to bridge the gap between how consumers discover products through AI and how they make purchases on a retailer's website.
The Update: Spangle AI has raised $15 million in a Series A round led by NewRoad Capital Partners, with participation from Madrona, DNX Ventures, and Streamlined Ventures. This brings the company's total funding to $21 million and values it at $100 million. The startup has already signed nine enterprise customers, including major fashion brands Revolve, Steve Madden, and Alexander Wang. Spangle AI reports a 57% average month-over-month growth in traffic and a quadrupling of its revenue run rate in the last quarter of 2025.
The new funding will be used to expand research and development, advance its AI models, and grow its engineering team. The company's platform uses a proprietary AI reasoning engine called ProductGPT to create personalised shopping experiences in real-time, reportedly delivering conversion increases of up to 50% and doubling the return on advertising spend for some clients.
"Traditional commerce stacks are fragmented, with slow feedback cycles and no intelligence layer tying discovery to execution. We’re building infrastructure where AI-driven discovery and on-site execution operate as one system." - Maju Kuruvilla, CEO, Spangle AI
Why it Matters: Spangle AI's funding and early traction with major brands signal a significant shift in the ecommerce landscape. As consumers increasingly use AI-powered search, recommendation engines, and social platforms for product discovery, traditional ecommerce systems are struggling to keep up. Spangle AI's "agentic" infrastructure addresses this by creating a dynamic, intelligent layer that connects off-site discovery with on-site execution.
This approach moves beyond static product pages to deliver personalised experiences in real-time, which can lead to substantial improvements in conversion rates and advertising efficiency. The company's success could pave the way for a new generation of AI-native commerce platforms that are better equipped for the agent-driven future of online shopping.
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