Firmly raises $15 million Series A with JPMorgan Payments and Mastercard to connect merchants to AI shopping agents

Firmly has raised a $15 million Series A round led by Squarepoint Capital, with strategic investors including J.P. Morgan Payments, Mastercard and Samsung NEXT, according to the company's announcement. The company also launched Ask Agent, an AI shopping assistant for retailers' own websites.

Firmly connects retailers' existing online stores to AI assistants, marketplaces and other shopping channels, so people can buy products inside those apps without going to the retailer's website, while retailers keep their own payment providers and customer relationships. Mastercard is also a commercial partner: Firmly handles the merchant side of Mastercard Agent Connect, a service launched in September to link merchants, AI agents and payment providers, GeekWire reported.

Firmly charges merchants $2,000 to $15,000 a month depending on the value of merchandise they sell, and connecting a merchant now takes a day or less, down from four to six weeks in 2024, CEO Kumar Senthil told Axios. Its retail customers include Best Buy, Furniture.com and Backcountry. The round brings Firmly's total funding to about $20 million.