Marketing technology startup MAI has launched an artificial intelligence platform designed to autonomously run digital ad campaigns, while also announcing a $25 million seed funding round led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from Gaorong Ventures, UpHonest Capital and others.

The San Francisco company said its AI agents are already generating results for ecommerce clients, driving 40% higher sales, and managing millions of dollars in Google Ads spending each month. The funding will be used to grow MAI’s engineering staff and accelerate product development.

Founded by former Google and Instacart engineers Yuchen Wu and Jian Wang, MAI is pitching itself as a way for small and mid-sized businesses to access enterprise-level ad tools without the cost of agencies or the burden of manual campaign management.

“Digital advertising is one of the hardest growth levers for businesses to master,” Wu, MAI’s co-founder and CEO. “Our agents do the heavy lifting, driving results autonomously, so business owners can focus on building their companies.”

MAI’s agents use real-time optimization to adjust bids, budgets and creative assets around the clock, the company said. They also integrate with a retailer’s inventory and customer data to detect issues such as stockouts or broken promotions before campaigns waste budget.

Early customers include Dreo, DrWoof, Fanka, Flamingo, NutritionFaktory, Patpat, Velotric and Vivaia.

Investors say the technology could help level the playing field for smaller brands. “Performance marketing is the lifeblood of modern commerce, yet for too long the tools that drive scale have only been available to the largest enterprises,” said Josh Coyne, partner at Kleiner Perkins.

MAI began collaborating with pilot customers in late 2024 and has since doubled its client base, reflecting what the company says is growing demand among direct-to-consumer brands and consumer apps facing higher competition for online customer acquisition.

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