Spangle’s $100M Bet: Can AI Really Future-Proof E-Commerce?

At a $100 million valuation, Spangle’s AI claims to ‘future-proof’ e-commerce—by rewriting the rules of how shoppers interact with brands. The startup, founded by former Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla, raised $15 million in a Series A round to scale its proprietary ProductGPT model, which dynamically generates personalized shopping experiences for enterprise clients like Revolve and Steve Madden.

Kuruvilla said the platform trains its AI on each retailer’s catalog and performance data to create adaptive user journeys. Revolve reported a 60% improvement in return on ad spend and a 50% increase in revenue per visit using Spangle’s system, while traffic through the platform grew 57% month-on-month in 2024. Annualized revenue quadrupled in Q4, though exact figures remain undisclosed.

Spangle’s approach differs from traditional static e-commerce platforms by using AI to continuously optimize product recommendations, pricing, and content.

Unlike OpenAI’s GPT models, which require external integration, ProductGPT operates as a closed-loop system trained specifically on retail data. This allows for faster inference and reduced dependency on third-party APIs, according to Kuruvilla.

The startup operates with six full-time employees, leveraging AI to scale enterprise software with minimal human infrastructure. However, the lack of independent third-party testing for ProductGPT’s performance claims remains a notable gap in the company’s public disclosures.