Nodals AI is a technology company.
Nodals AI has raised $3.0M across 1 funding round.
Nodals AI has raised $3.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Nodals AI has raised $3.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Nodals AI's investors include Felix Capital, Fortino Capital, Math Capital, Okapio Ltd, Stride VC, Andrei Dunca, Andy Leaver, Brian O'Kelley, Dilpesh Parmar, Wim Vanhaelemeesch.
# Nodals AI: High-Level Overview
Nodals AI is a London-based media buying platform that enables advertisers to access and leverage media owners' first-party data through custom algorithms, replacing traditional DSP-SSP-exchange infrastructure.[1][2] The company solves a critical problem in digital advertising: how to deliver superior targeting performance while respecting privacy and reducing environmental impact in a post-third-party-cookie world.
The platform works by integrating directly with publishers to create custom identity and audience signals for advertisers, allowing them to bid on first-party publisher data publisher-by-publisher rather than relying on third-party cookies or device IDs.[2] Nodals' infrastructure delivers over twice the performance of traditional datasets while reducing carbon emissions by up to 75%.[1] The company targets advertisers sophisticated enough to run incrementality testing and move beyond simple click-based metrics.[2]
# Origin Story
Nodals AI was founded by Aly Nurmohamed, an early employee at Criteo and former Chief Operating Officer at Permutive, who set out last year to "build something from scratch" after recognizing the industry's need for a privacy-first, performance-driven alternative to legacy ad tech infrastructure.[2] He assembled a team of seasoned advertising engineers: Ed Barnes, Sam Adu, and Octavio Martin, who collectively bring 20 years of experience building advertising infrastructure at DoubleClick, Google, and Yahoo.[1]
The company launched in 2024 (incorporated May 10, 2024) and raised £2 million in pre-seed funding from European VC firm Stride, alongside a notable group of ad tech angel investors including Brian O'Kelley (AppNexus, Scope3), Joe Root (Permutive), Ben Barokas (Admeld, Sourcepoint), and Marc Grabowski (IAS COO).[1][2] The founding team's deep expertise in AdTech—particularly Nurmohamed's experience at both demand-side and supply-side platforms—directly informed the company's approach to solving what they identified as "the biggest issue in the industry right now: audience-based targeting."[1]
# Core Differentiators
# Role in the Broader Tech Landscape
Nodals AI sits at the intersection of three major industry forces reshaping digital advertising. First, the deprecation of third-party cookies and device IDs has created an urgent need for alternative targeting infrastructure—Nodals directly addresses this by enabling first-party data strategies at scale.[1][2] Second, regulatory pressure around privacy (GDPR, emerging AI regulations) and sustainability concerns are pushing advertisers toward solutions that reduce both privacy risk and environmental footprint.[1] Third, the rise of AI and custom algorithms is enabling more sophisticated, advertiser-specific approaches to audience targeting that move beyond one-size-fits-all solutions.[1]
The timing is critical: advertisers have moved beyond simple performance metrics like clicks and are now running incrementality testing to measure true business impact, creating demand for the type of outcome-based media buying Nodals provides.[2] By positioning itself as a replacement for the entire DSP-SSP-exchange stack rather than a tool within it, Nodals is attempting to reshape how the ad tech supply chain operates—shifting power and data control back toward publishers and advertisers rather than centralized intermediaries.
# Quick Take & Future Outlook
Nodals AI represents a fundamental reimagining of ad tech infrastructure for the privacy-first, AI-driven era. The company's early traction with alpha advertisers and strong investor backing (including seasoned ad tech operators) suggests the market is ready for this shift. The key challenge ahead will be scaling beyond early adopters to prove that custom algorithms on first-party data can consistently outperform legacy systems at volume.
The company's trajectory will likely be shaped by how quickly publishers adopt the platform, whether advertisers can effectively operationalize custom algorithms, and whether regulatory developments around AI and data usage create tailwinds or headwinds. If Nodals succeeds in establishing itself as the post-cookie standard for outcome-based media buying, it could fundamentally disrupt the $500+ billion digital advertising ecosystem by disintermediating the traditional ad tech stack—a shift that would benefit both publishers (through data control) and advertisers (through performance) at the expense of legacy platforms.
Nodals AI has raised $3.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $3.0M Seed in February 2025.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 1, 2025 | $3.0M Seed | Felix Capital, Fortino Capital, Math Capital, Okapio Ltd, Stride VC, Andrei Dunca, Andy Leaver, Brian O'Kelley, Dilpesh Parmar, Wim Vanhaelemeesch |