Big Sur AI raises $6.9 million and announces launch of AI Sales Agent for e-commerce merchants

Big Sur AI, an AI platform for e-commerce, has announced a $6.9 million seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and including participation from Capital F and several angel investors.

This comes as part of the launch of the company’s flagship product, an AI Sales Agent, which promises an enhanced product discovery and assisted experience to online shoppers at merchant websites.

“Big Sur AI's dedication to helping merchants cut through the noise and build lasting relationships with their customers aligns perfectly with our vision at Lightspeed,” says Sydney Sykes, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners.

“We believe retailers will need a personalised approach to customer engagement that persists outside of the retail store. Big Sur AI is making that kind of customer relationship automatic.” 

AI Sales Agent is aimed at boosting merchants' sales through higher conversion rates and larger order sizes, while enabling shoppers to make well informed purchase decisions effortlessly.

It is now available to all merchants on the Shopify platform.

Big Sur AI’s early adopters and design partners include brands across a range of verticals including Rad Power Bikes and Wyze. 

Stephanie Roberts, CFO at Rad Power Bikes, says: “Our experience with Big Sur AI has been great. We are impressed with the pilot results showing significant lift in sales.”

“For our customers, purchasing an electric bike is a major decision. We have various models with different features and the real-time assistance facilitated by Big Sur AI's solution has been instrumental in converting browsers into buyers.”

“Another important distinction is their level of customer service. It has been amazing. Their focus on innovation and customer service mirrors our own values.” 

Dave Crosby, Co-founder and CMO at Wyze, says: “Over the last few months, Big Sur AI has been an incredible partner driving real business impact for us. Their product was simple to integrate and their team is highly responsive to our inputs as a design partner.”

“While there is a lot of buzz around AI in retail, their product stands out against other AI products we have been testing. We’ve seen a tangible lift in site conversion and customer experience since we started our partnership.”

“Our goal is to cut through the complexity of AI, creating an intuitive product that delivers real impact for merchants today,” says Big Sur AI’s Co-founder and CEO, Vinod Ramachandran.

“In an environment where retailers and brands are prioritising profitability, we’re committed to being their trusted technology partner bringing advanced AI to grow sales and reduce costs.”

“Lightspeed is the perfect partner for us in this journey and thanks to them we have assembled an exceptional team, including former senior Google and Meta employees, to help achieve our mission.” 

Big Sur AI was founded in 2023 by Ramachandran and Arnaud Weber, former Google executives who together helped build various consumer and advertising products across Chrome, Android, Ads and Google Shopping.

They say that they saw firsthand an opportunity to redefine the merchant and shopper experience for the AI era and started their company to ensure that these advancements benefit all merchants.