Nitro Commerce raises US$5M to scale its AI-driven growth platform
With digital growth stalling for many brands, Nitro wants to become the AI-powered fix for India’s commerce chaos
Nitro Commerce, a lesser-known but fast-growing AI startup based in New Delhi, has raised US$5 million in a full-equity Series A round. The funding was led by Cornerstone Ventures and joined by India Accelerator & Finvolve, Equentis Wealth, Razorpay Ventures, and others.
With this raise, the company aims to accelerate product development, scale hiring, and push into global markets. But underneath the fundraising headline is a deeper bet: that Nitro can offer an alternative to India's increasingly expensive and platform-dependent ad infrastructure. For marketers and retail brands battling high customer acquisition costs and broken attribution paths, that pitch is becoming harder to ignore.
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Here’s a table of contents for quick access:
- What Nitro Commerce is building
- Who’s backing it—and why
- Why this matters for Indian marketers
- Actionable insights for martech leaders
What Nitro Commerce is building
Nitro Commerce wants to solve a pain every growth team knows too well: rising digital and offline ad spend, fragmented customer journeys, and an over-reliance on the Meta–Google ad duopoly.
At its core, Nitro is developing what it calls an AI-led “growth operating layer” for commerce brands. The platform combines three key products:
- NitroX: A commerce identity network that converts anonymous traffic into identified users, giving brands a unified view of online and offline journeys.
- Nitro Ads: A privacy-conscious ad alternative that activates intent-led audiences across platforms like Truecaller, Zomato, and Paytm—not just Meta or Google.
- Nitro Pulse: An AI-powered sales and engagement engine that boosts conversions and re-engages dropped-off customers in real time.
Together, these form a modular stack used by over 2,500 brands, including Imagine Online, Rare Rabbit, Blue Tokai, VIP Industries, and Dot & Key.
Who’s backing it—and why
This round signals strong conviction from both previous and new investors. Cornerstone Ventures, which backed co-founder Umair Mohammad in his earlier Wigzo venture, led the round and praised Nitro’s cross-platform, modular architecture.
Investors say they’re betting on Nitro’s potential to become a foundational layer in India’s fast-growing but fragmented consumer economy. India Accelerator, Equentis Wealth, and Razorpay Ventures all cited the platform’s ability to unify identity, intent, and attribution across commerce channels—not just ad networks.
The company's annual recurring revenue reportedly grew 10x year-on-year to US$5 million and is projected to double to US$10 million within six months. That traction likely helped it secure follow-on capital during what remains a tight funding environment in India.
Why this matters for Indian marketers
India’s D2C and omnichannel retail sectors are booming, but many brands are hitting a wall when it comes to efficient growth. Meta and Google continue to dominate digital marketing budgets, but costs are rising, performance is harder to measure, and privacy changes are eroding attribution clarity.
For marketers, Nitro Commerce is positioning itself as a new kind of martech infrastructure—a platform that lets brands:
- Escape the platform trap by reaching users outside major walled gardens
- Convert anonymous website visitors into addressable identities
- Recover lost conversions with AI agents in real time
- See unified cross-channel analytics that reflect the entire user journey
This approach could prove appealing as performance marketers shift budgets away from broad CPM campaigns and toward solutions that deliver more measurable business outcomes.
What martech leaders should consider next
If you’re running growth for a commerce brand in India—or thinking about how to localize your martech stack—here are a few takeaways:
- Watch Nitro’s adtech alternatives. Its focus on high-intent channels like Truecaller and Zomato could offer new media inventory in a saturated digital landscape.
- Identity-led growth is trending. As cookies disappear and privacy rules tighten, platforms like NitroX that focus on identity resolution are gaining strategic value.
- Agentic AI is creeping into sales ops. Nitro Pulse isn’t just a chatbot—it’s a real-time AI sales engine. Expect more martech players to embed decisioning tools directly into growth workflows.
- Investors are still backing category infrastructure. Despite a cautious VC climate, startups building foundational tools for brand growth are still raising capital—especially if they show traction beyond vanity metrics.
