MAI Raises $25M to Automate Performance Marketing with AI Agents, Driving Revenue for Brands

MAI's AI agents are driving 40% more sales for e-commerce companies and managing millions of dollars of Google Ads spend monthly

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- MAI, the AI platform that drives revenue by automating and optimizing performance marketing, today announced the launch of its flagship product alongside a $25 million Seed funding round led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Gaorong Ventures, UpHonest Capital, and others.

MAI is launching AI agents that autonomously manage and optimize performance marketing, giving small and mid-sized businesses access to the same advanced advertising tools used by the biggest enterprises. MAI's agents are already helping clients drive 40% more sales and managing millions of dollars of Google Ad spend every month. The funding will be used to expand MAI's product and engineering teams and accelerate development of its AI agent platform.

"Digital advertising is one of the biggest growth levers available to businesses, but it's also one of the hardest to master," said Yuchen Wu, co-founder and CEO of MAI. "We've spent our careers building ad platforms and e-commerce engines at companies like Google and Instacart, and saw firsthand how advanced technology helped the largest companies grow. However, those same tools have historically been out of reach for small and mid-sized businesses. That's why we built MAI. Our agents do the heavy lifting, driving results autonomously, so business owners can focus on building their companies."

E-commerce continues to grow at roughly 8% annually , surpassing even its Covid-era peak. At the same time, distribution channels have fragmented, and direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands and consumer apps face fiercer competition than ever. Digital ads, especially Google Ads, have become the primary way these companies acquire customers, but managing campaigns is time-consuming and often opaque. Business owners must either spend hours every week managing campaigns themselves or pay an agency hefty fees to do it for them.

MAI addresses this challenge head on by putting Google Ads on autopilot and helping businesses scale their spend profitably. Its AI agents integrate deeply with all their business data and work 24x7 to adjust spend, identify opportunities, and update in real time when performance shifts. 

"With MAI, we're giving customers an army of AI agents that are solely focused on one thing: improving their bottom line by optimizing digital ads," said Jian Wang, co-founder and CTO of MAI. "Our customers get the results of a full-time expert team that drives growth without the overhead, so they can focus on building their business rather than babysitting ads."

With MAI, businesses can:

• Automate Google Ads management: MAI agents set up, monitor, and adjust campaigns continuously without human monitoring.
• Optimize in real time: Budgets, bids, and creative assets are dynamically tuned 24/7 to maximize performance.
• Adapt to each business: MAI agents learn a company's unique products, customers, and goals instead of applying one-size-fits-all rules.
• Detect issues instantly: From broken discount codes to stockouts, MAI flags problems that impact ad performance before they drain budgets.
• Scale efficiently: MAI agents can handle thousands of products and creative variations at once, making enterprise-level complexity manageable for lean teams.

Since launching with early customers in late 2024, MAI has seen rapid adoption among D2C brands and consumer apps, doubling its customer base in months. Businesses like Dreo, DrWoof, Fanka, Flamingo, NutritionFaktory, Patpat, Velotric, and Vivaia trust MAI's AI agents to manage their ad spend and drive revenue.

"Working with agencies always felt expensive and opaque with lots of fees and little clarity on results," said Mike Bires, CEO NutritionFaktory. "With MAI we can see clearly that the ads just work. The impact to the business is felt almost immediately."

"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, Kleiner Perkins. "Yuchen and Jian bring a rare combination of deep ad platform expertise and firsthand empathy for the challenges growth businesses face. MAI's approach is bold and refreshingly pragmatic. We're excited to back Yuchen and Jian as they build this out."

About MAI
MAI drives growth for businesses with AI agents that automate and optimize performance marketing. Brands across the globe trust MAI's AI agents to manage millions of dollars of digital ad spend monthly. The company is founded by AI/ML engineers who built Google Ads and managed a team of growth marketing engineers Instacart. It is backed by Kleiner Perkins, Gaorong Ventures, UpHonest Capital, and others. For more information, visit mai.co.

SOURCE MAI