Kevel
Kevel is an API-native retail media infrastructure platform that enables retailers, marketplaces, fintechs, travel brands, and delivery apps to build and operate owned retail media networks while retaining full control of their first-party data. Its Retail Media Cloud combines ad serving, audience segmentation, and AI-driven campaign management.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersDurham, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Kevel does
Kevel (formerly Adzerk, headquartered in Durham, North Carolina) provides an API-native retail media infrastructure platform branded as the Kevel Retail Media Cloud®, targeted at retailers, marketplaces, fintechs, travel brands, and delivery apps that want to build, operate, and scale owned retail media networks without surrendering control of their first-party data or accepting revenue-share economics from turnkey ad networks. The platform is composed of three interlocking products: Kevel Ad Server (server-side ad decisioning APIs with sub-50ms response times powering sponsored listings, native ads, and custom ad formats), Kevel Audience (AI-powered first-party data segmentation including RFM Map, AI Segment Builder, and ML predictive attributes like Likelihood to Buy), and Kevel Console (an AI-driven omnichannel campaign management UI with self-service capabilities). AI/ML features are embedded across the stack, including Yield Forecast simulations, Custom Relevancy with Bring-Your-Own-Model support, and AI Campaign Management.
The business model is enterprise SaaS / API platform fees with usage-based API consumption on top, sold through a hybrid of direct enterprise sales ('Talk to an expert'), mid-market inside sales, and developer-led self-serve onboarding via an API Quickstart and developer documentation at dev.kevel.com. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; the platform is non-revenue-share, meaning customers retain full ad revenue while paying Kevel for platform usage. Kevel is SOC 1, SOC 2, GDPR, and CCPA compliant, with a data processor / data controller architecture that keeps customer first-party data under customer control.
Kevel's customer base spans six verticals and includes tier-1 enterprises (Home Depot, PayPal, Dollar General, Lyft, Chewy, Ticketmaster, iFood, MC Sonae, Delivery Hero, Edmunds, El Corte Inglés) alongside mid-market and growth-stage customers (CoinGecko, Chairish, Moviflor, Flink, PropertyGuru, Yelp, WeTransfer, Slickdeals, Imgur). The company has raised approximately $35.65M across disclosed rounds through March 2024, is led by founder and CEO James Avery with CFO Chessy West and COO Jaclyn Nix (appointed January 2026), and has executed two acquisitions (Velocidi in June 2022, Nexta in February 2025). Recent 2025–2026 ecosystem partnerships include The Trade Desk, dunnhumby, ADvendio, Skai, StackAdapt, and Scandinavian Airlines.
Kevel firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Kevel
- Legal name
- Kevel
- Website
- https://kevel.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Kevel is an API-native retail media infrastructure platform that enables retailers, marketplaces, fintechs, travel brands, and delivery apps to build and operate owned retail media networks while retaining full control of their first-party data. Its Retail Media Cloud combines ad serving, audience segmentation, and AI-driven campaign management.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Kevel is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Durham
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Kevel business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Enterprise SaaS / API Platform Fees: Kevel offers API-based ad serving infrastructure with a non-revenue-share model — customers retain full control of their ad revenue while paying Kevel for use of its platform. Implicit recurring SaaS / platform licensing model given enterprise 'Talk to sales' motion and lack of revenue-share (per iFood case study).
- Usage-Based API Consumption: Customers consume Kevel's ad serving APIs on a usage basis — ad decisioning requests, catalog ingestion, and management API calls are priced according to platform volume, consistent with API-first infrastructure.
- Self-Serve / Managed Service Tiers: Kevel supports both self-serve onboarding (CoinGecko, Chairish, Kidizen use self-serve portals built on top of Kevel Management API) and managed-service engagements for larger customers like Dollar General.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | — | Quote-based enterprise pricing — not publicly disclosed |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Kevel product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Kevel provides an API-native retail media infrastructure platform (the Retail Media Cloud) that enables retailers, marketplaces, fintechs, travel brands, and delivery apps to build, launch, and operate their own owned retail media networks. The platform delivers flexible ad serving APIs (Kevel Ad Server), AI-powered first-party data audience segmentation (Kevel Audience), and an AI-driven omnichannel campaign management UI with self-service capabilities (Kevel Console), all under a non-revenue-share, data-controller-friendly model.
Product overview
Kevel offers a single, unified API-native retail media infrastructure platform — the Kevel Retail Media Cloud® — composed of three interlocking products: Kevel Ad Server (the flexible API-first ad serving engine for decisioning, campaign management, reporting, and catalog ingestion), Kevel Audience (the AI-powered first-party data segmentation and activation module, including RFM Map and predictive attributes), and Kevel Console (the AI-driven omnichannel campaign management UI with self-service capabilities). Together, these three products form the Retail Media Cloud, enabling retailers, marketplaces, fintechs, travel brands, and delivery apps to launch, scale, and operate owned retail media networks using their own first-party data, with AI/ML features (Yield Forecast, Custom Relevancy, AI Segment Builder, AI Campaign Management) embedded across the stack.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Kevel Ad Server: API-first flexible ad serving platform powering ad decisioning, campaign management, reporting, and catalog ingestion with advanced ML and AI; the foundational ad serving product within the Retail Media Cloud.
- Kevel Audience
- Kevel Console
- The Retail Media Cloud
Products and services
- Kevel Retail Media Cloud Kevel's overarching API-native retail media infrastructure platform composed of Kevel Ad Server, Kevel Audience, and Kevel Console, recognized as the industry's first API-native retail media infrastructure. It enables retailers, marketplaces, fintechs, travel brands, and delivery apps to build, operate, and scale owned retail media networks using their own first-party data across on-site, in-app, and off-site environments.
- Kevel Ad Server Flexible, API-first ad serving platform that powers ad decisioning, campaign management, reporting, and catalog ingestion with advanced ML and AI. Manages all owned inventory on-site, in-app, or in-store in one place, with embedded AI features including Yield Forecast and Custom Relevancy (BYOM). Powers sponsored listings, native ads, and custom ad formats via server-side ad decision requests with sub-50ms response times at scale.
- Kevel Audience AI-powered audience segmentation tool that turns first-party data into a single customer view for AI-powered segmentation, audience activation, and ad personalization. Includes RFM Map segmentation, AI Segment Builder, predictive attributes such as Likelihood to Buy, and activations to Facebook, Google Ads, and email marketing. Documented at docs.audience.kevel.com.
- Kevel Console Out-of-the-box omnichannel campaign management user interface with AI automation features and self-service capabilities, enabling retailers to manage inventory, data assets, and campaign performance from day one. Includes AI Campaign Management for optimized workflows and ROAS.
Quantifiable outcome
- MC Sonae achieved 478% ROAS with Kevel-powered retail media network
- +10 more outcomes
Companies that use Kevel
Customer profileNamed customers40 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles7 records
Kevel technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration8 records
AI capability7 records
Feature9 records
Kevel partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major (network alliance to address retail media fragmentation; built in partnership with kevel), flagship (flagship travel media network launch; first major airline partnership), major (integration scheduled for spring 2026 release; automates trafficking, forecasting, targeting, billing), flagship (tier-1 retailer with 21,000+ us stores; unified on-site/off-site retail media launch), flagship (dsp partner for unified on-site/off-site activation with dollar general), major (programmatic activation partner for lyft travel media), major (strategic partnership for omnichannel intelligence integration) and major (acquisition).
- dunnhumbymajor (network alliance to address retail media fragmentation; built in partnership with kevel)dunnhumby launched its retail media network alliance with the solution built in partnership with Kevel. Pilots are running with Tesco, B&Q (Kingfisher), John Lewis, and Waitrose across household/DIY, health and beauty, and grocery categories starting summer 2026. The alliance aims to give brands and agencies a unified route to activate campaigns across multiple retailers without rebuilding plans and workflows.
- Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)flagship (flagship travel media network launch; first major airline partnership)Kevel partners with Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) to power SAS's new digital commerce media network. The network uses Kevel Ad Server, AI-powered Audience segmentation, and Console platform to enable SAS to deliver personalized advertising placements across its global digital ecosystem, monetizing first-party traveler data. Hotels, tourism boards, car rental companies, and lifestyle brands are the target advertiser categories.
- ADvendiomajor (integration scheduled for spring 2026 release; automates trafficking, forecasting, targeting, billing)ADvendio and Kevel announced a strategic partnership and integration combining ADvendio's retail media Revenue OS with Kevel's retail media cloud, automating key workflows including trafficking, forecasting, targeting, and billing, while featuring AI-powered agents. The integration is positioned as a response to fragmentation in the retail media sector.
- Dollar Generalflagship (tier-1 retailer with 21,000+ us stores; unified on-site/off-site retail media launch)Kevel, Dollar General, and The Trade Desk collaborate on a unified retail media solution for DG Media Network that connects onsite and offsite activation with consistent measurement. Kevel's technology infrastructure powers the integration; managed service testing begins June 2026, full integration available Q3 2026.
- The Trade Deskflagship (dsp partner for unified on-site/off-site activation with dollar general)The Trade Desk provides offsite activation capabilities and a unified platform for planning, buying, and measuring campaigns across connected TV, digital audio, and on-site display and video. Kevel's API-based infrastructure bridges The Trade Desk's offsite expertise with Dollar General's onsite inventory.
- StackAdaptmajor (programmatic activation partner for lyft travel media)StackAdapt partnered with Kevel and Lyft to enable programmatic buyers to reach consumers at key moments through strategic placements in the rider journey, delivering value for both riders and advertisers.
- Skaimajor (strategic partnership for omnichannel intelligence integration)Kevel and Skai announced a strategic partnership to enhance access to retail media networks for advertisers. The collaboration integrates Skai's omnichannel intelligence with Kevel's ad infrastructure for seamless campaign activation, audience targeting, and performance measurement across multiple retail platforms.
- Velocidimajor (acquisition)Kevel acquired Velocidi in a deal focused on privacy-first advertising infrastructure. Velocidi's capabilities were integrated into Kevel's audience and identity infrastructure for privacy-first ad targeting.
Scale indicators13 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Kevel competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Google Ad Manager (DoubleClick): Google's enterprise ad server is the most widely deployed ad-serving platform globally, offering both managed and API-based serving. It competes with Kevel for large-publisher ad serving but is not retail-media-specialized and typically requires more services to customize for owned retail media networks.
- Pubmatic: Pubmatic is a public ad-tech infrastructure company offering header-bidding and ad-server technology for publishers. While it does not specialize in retail media, it competes in the broader programmatic and on-site monetization market where Kevel's API platform operates.
- OpenX: OpenX is a global SSP and ad-exchange serving publishers and retailers with on-site and off-site demand. It is adjacent to Kevel's retail media offering through its exchange-based approach but lacks Kevel's API-native retail media network specialization.
Direct peers
- Criteo: Criteo's Retail Media platform is a direct competitor in powering retailer-owned on-site sponsored placements and off-site activation. Both target retailers and marketplaces, with Criteo taking a more turnkey/network approach vs. Kevel's API-native, data-controller model.
- CitrusAd: CitrusAd operates an enterprise sponsored-products and retail media platform serving grocery and other retailers globally. It competes with Kevel directly in the retailer on-site sponsored listings space but is more turnkey and less API-customizable.
- Koddi: Koddi provides a retail and commerce media platform that powers sponsored listings and display for retailers and travel companies. It targets an overlapping set of customers (retailers, marketplaces, travel) with a more managed-service orientation than Kevel's API-first model.
- Moloco: Moloco operates a machine-learning ad platform including a Retail Media Cloud that powers monetization for streaming, commerce, and retail apps. It overlaps with Kevel in providing ML-driven retail media infrastructure for app-based and on-site environments.
- Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer): Equativ offers an independent ad server and SSP with API-based decisioning for publishers and retailers. It competes with Kevel's ad-serving API in the broader ad-tech infrastructure market, including retail media use cases, though it does not specialize in retail media networks.
Emerging players
- Topsort: Topsort is an emerging ad-tech platform offering API-based sponsored listings and auction infrastructure for retailers and marketplaces. It is closely comparable to Kevel in product approach and target market but is at an earlier stage of enterprise adoption.
- TripleLift: TripleLift is a programmatic ad-tech company specializing in native and retail media formats, now part of Vox Media. It overlaps with Kevel on native ad serving and retail media formats but operates with a more network-driven (vs. API-first infrastructure) model.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Kevel social profiles
Digital presenceKevel compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Kevel financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Kevel leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Kevel subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Kevel funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors11 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Kevel M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A2 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Kevel
What does Kevel do?
Kevel provides an API-native retail media infrastructure platform (the Retail Media Cloud) that enables retailers, marketplaces, fintechs, travel brands, and delivery apps to build, launch, and operate their own owned retail media networks. The platform delivers flexible ad serving APIs (Kevel Ad Server), AI-powered first-party data audience segmentation (Kevel Audience), and an AI-driven omnichannel campaign management UI with self-service capabilities (Kevel Console), all under a non-revenue-share, data-controller-friendly model.
Is Kevel a public or private company?
Kevel is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Kevel founded?
Kevel was founded in 2010. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Kevel based?
Kevel is headquartered in Durham, United States, in the North America region.
How does Kevel make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Enterprise SaaS / API Platform Fees are the primary driver. The others are usage-Based API Consumption and self-Serve / Managed Service Tiers.
Who are Kevel's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Google Ad Manager (DoubleClick), Pubmatic and OpenX. Direct peers are Criteo, CitrusAd, Koddi, Moloco and Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer). Emerging players are Topsort and TripleLift.
Does Kevel have an API?
Yes. Kevel offers a public, developer-facing API for building custom ad servers and retail media platforms. The APIs power ad decisioning, campaign management, reporting, catalog ingestion, real-time reporting, ad pacing, targeting, and self-service advertiser portals via server-side requests. The platform supports sponsored listings, native ads, promoted placements, and custom ad formats, and is documented at dev.kevel.com. A Quickstart (test the API in minutes), Tools & Libraries (pre-built tools), and API Status page (kevel.statuspage.io) are provided. A separate documentation site at docs.audience.kevel.com covers the Kevel Audience product with programmatic HTTP access. Developer documentation is at dev.kevel.com/docs.