Manchester's Praetura Ventures has led a £3.25m Series A investment into the software business that works with e-commerce companies around the world.
Ocula has developed Ocula Boost, an AI-powered tool that uses AI and large-scale language models to enhance retailers' product pages.
The company currently has over 25 major clients including Boots, AO.com and US retailer Blain's Farm & Fleet, and with Praetura's investment it hopes to triple its customer base over the next 24 months.
Belfast-based Ocula has also raised further investment from long-term investors Castelnau Group and Lloyds Banking Group and their fintech investment teams, alongside Praetura. The company plans to use the investment to scale its sales and technology teams and develop new and existing product teams.
Ocula co-founder and CEO Thomas McKenna said: “At Ocula, we've created something special, both from a product and culture perspective. Our users consistently tell us that our generative AI can now compete on an equal footing with cutting-edge competitors. We've achieved this by bringing together the best scientific, engineering and product talent from across the UK and internationally. This investment will accelerate our expansion into the UK and US, enabling us to bring the next generation of exciting AI capabilities to our customers.”
Peter Carway, investment director at Praetura Ventures, added: “The role of AI in e-commerce has expanded exponentially over the past few years and, as Ocula's work evidences, there are now a wealth of incredibly exciting developments for retailers of all sizes. Having invested in this space before, we were attracted by Ocula's proposition and highly sophisticated product suite, as well as the strength of Ocula's co-founders, Thomas and Gregory. We want to back them with more than just capital.”
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