E-commerce AI startup Onton bags $7.5 million in funding to build future of decision making online

Onton, a search and discovery engine for products, has raised $7.5 million in seed funding led by Footwork with participation from Liquid 2, Parable Ventures, 43 and others, bringing its total funding to approximately $10 million.

The company will use the capital to expand its product, scale its team, and grow its global footprint.

“We are building the future of decision making online,” says Zach Hudson, CEO and Co-Founder at Onton.

“People deserve a way to shop that feels intelligent, transparent, and effortless. Onton is designed to remove the friction that slows everyone down and to give users absolute confidence in their choices.”

Onton allows users to search with natural language, images, or both. It aggregates information from across the web into a single product listing so people do not have to bounce across various sites to feel confident in what they choose.

With new tools like Imagine and Surfaces, users can dream up the pieces they want and instantly see shoppable versions of those ideas. Onton claims that it is delivering a conversion rate three times higher than the industry benchmark and over 20% of users are weekly active.

It plans to expand beyond home decor and furniture into new categories like apparel and electronics.

RTIH AI in Retail Awards

RTIH proudly presents the first edition of its AI in Retail Awards, sponsored by 3D Cloud and EdTech Innovation Hub.

This is now open for entries. Deadline for submissions is Friday, 5th December. It’s free to enter and you can do so across multiple categories.

Check out categories and entry forms here.

As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.

With 2025 set to be the year when AI and especially gen AI shake off the ‘heavily hyped’ tag and become embedded in retail business processes, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees.

Our 2025 winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.

Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 29th January. This will kick off with a drinks reception in the stunning Conservatory, followed by a three course meal, and awards ceremony in the Garden Room.