Swish secures seed funding round for its AI powered CPG product sampling platform

Swish has closed a seed round led by BD Ventures and featuring a group of retail tech and shopper marketing investors. It did not disclose the amount of cash raised.

Swish was founded on the idea of delivering consumers full size, in-stock CPG products as samples directly through their regular grocery shopping.

Powered by proprietary AI, the platform uses real transactional data to determine relevancy and personalise each shopper’s experience, adding free products into first-party grocery orders, whether for pickup or delivery.

“Ultimately, brands want customers to try and then buy their products,” says Adam Stave, CEO and Co-founder at Swish. “Demos and mailers are expensive and hard to measure, while digital media continues to fall short. Swish treats the product itself as media - placed directly into baskets, at the right time, for the right people. We offer a massive unlock for retailers and brands looking for measurable performance in product trial.”

BD Ventures was founded by Jonathan Opdyke and Roger Ehrenberg. Opdyke was the co-founder and CEO of HookLogic, which was acquired by Criteo, and more recently led the seed round and advised retail media platform Symbiosys, acquired by DoorDash.

Ehrenberg founded IA Ventures, with seed investments including The Trade Desk, DataDog, Digital Ocean, and Wise, plus earlier investments in marketing companies like Buddy Media and Invite Media.

“Product trial is the fundamental goal of all consumer-packaged goods marketing,” says Opdyke.

“Shoppers don’t truly become customers until they actually consume or use the product and decide to buy again. Adam and the Swish team are reinventing this equation for digital commerce, creating a true win-win-win for brands, retailers, and consumers. We believe this could fundamentally change how CPG brands go to market.”

“Swish was built to solve the real challenges we hear every day from retailers and brands,” says Adam Stave, Founder and CEO at Swish. “Retailers need profitable e-commerce, bigger baskets, and happier shoppers. Brands need measurable, targeted ways to win new customers and prove impact.”

“With this seed round and the backing of experienced leaders in retail media and e-commerce, we’re ready to scale Swish to major retailers and make merchandise the next powerful form of media.”

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

AI will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which are now closed for entries with our finalists and shortlists being announced last week, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.