Onton, an AI-powered shopping platform previously known as Deft, has announced a successful $7.5 million funding round. This fresh capital will fuel the company's ambitious expansion plans, moving beyond its initial focus on furniture to include new categories like apparel and, eventually, consumer electronics. The round was led by Footwork, with participation from Liquid 2, Parable Ventures, and 43, bringing Onton's total funding to approximately $10 million.
The investment comes amidst a growing trend of major tech companies and startups integrating artificial intelligence into the shopping experience. Giants like OpenAI, Google, and Amazon have heavily invested in AI assistants designed to research products and recommend purchases. Similarly, startups such as Perplexity, Daydream, and Cherry have built businesses around AI for product discovery. Onton has capitalized on this shift, seeing its monthly active user base surge from 50,000 to over 2 million, handling millions of searches and image generations.
Driving Smarter Shopping Decisions with AI
Onton's co-founder, Zack Hudson, highlights that while large language models (LLMs) excel at guessing probable intent, they haven't fully resolved many e-commerce challenges, particularly the increasing time consumers take to make purchase decisions. Onton aims to tackle this by employing a unique neuro-symbolic architecture.
This advanced approach allows the company to mitigate the "hallucination" problems often associated with LLMs, delivering more logical and accurate search results. Hudson explains that Onton's model can also learn crucial real-world information that might not be explicitly stated in product descriptions. For instance, if a user searches for "pet-friendly furniture," the system understands that polyester content implies greater stain and scratch resistance, making it a suitable recommendation. This continuous learning process enhances the platform's intelligence with every search.
Furthermore, Onton's AI model addresses the common issue of inconsistent product naming across different retail sites, ensuring users receive comprehensive results even when search terms vary.
Enhanced User Experience and Future Growth
To facilitate both short-term purchases and long-term planning, Onton has introduced diverse input methods and features. Users can now upload an image or provide a text prompt to generate desired home or office setups, with Onton then identifying relevant furniture options. The platform also offers an "infinite canvas" with integrated image generation, allowing users to combine existing images with new product finds for ideation. This includes the ability to upload a photo of a room and have the tool furnish it virtually.
Onton believes that offering these visual and interactive features, rather than relying solely on a chat interface, empowers consumers to find exactly what they need, even if they struggle to articulate it perfectly. This strategy has proven highly effective, with the company reporting conversion rates 3-5 times higher than traditional e-commerce sites, attributed to the trustworthiness of its underlying data.
The company's rebranding from Deft to Onton earlier this year was driven by confusion surrounding the original name and difficulties in securing a premium domain. With its technological advancements, Onton anticipates a smoother expansion into new categories. The company is currently building its catalog for apparel and plans to launch this vertical soon, where it will compete with platforms like Daydream, Aesthetic, and Style.ai.
Onton has also seen significant team growth, expanding from three full-time employees in 2023 to ten currently, with plans to reach 15 by hiring additional engineers and researchers.
