What Surfside does

Surfside is a New York-based, privately held marketing technology company founded in 2018 that aggregates first-party customer data across all consumer touchpoints and activates it into personalized advertising campaigns and retail-media placements. The platform is built on a proprietary Customer Graph (also branded Experience Graph) covering 98% of consumers in the US and Canada with 700M+ devices, marketing IDs, and 25,000+ behavioral attributes, combined with an in-house Demand Side Platform (DSP) capable of 100B+ ads/day across 1M+ apps and sites, an Audience Builder with lookalike modeling, a Commerce Media retail-media network, multi-touch attribution tied to in-store and online sales, and zero-integration foot-traffic reporting across 145M+ points-of-interest. The company's primary customers are cannabis dispensaries and wholesale brands, with additional segments in CBD, DTC, delivery services, beverage/alcohol (3,000+ retail partners, LDA-compliant audience of 2M+), healthcare/pharma (HIPAA-compliant audience building, prescription lift measurement), and political (195M voter records); Surfside integrates with 20+ major cannabis POS (Dutchie, Treez, Seed, Flowhub, Cova), e-commerce (Shopify, WooCommerce, Buddy), and CRM (Klaviyo, HubSpot, Springbig) platforms, creating a deeply embedded distribution footprint in regulated commerce verticals.

Surfside monetizes through three revenue streams: (1) Commerce Media advertising, where brands pay for sponsored placements and priority positioning inside retailer e-commerce menus and in-store screens, with reported 2x-4x ROAS for participating brands; (2) subscription/SaaS fees for the self-service audience-building, omni-channel activation, and attribution platform on monthly billing with custom enterprise pricing; and (3) data-enrichment services merging client first-party data with Surfside's 25,000+ behavioral attributes. The go-to-market combines direct enterprise sales to large multi-state operators (MSOs) and major brands with a product-led self-service motion for smaller dispensaries and DTC brands, supplemented by a Wholesale Brand Co-Op Program that pairs brands with retail partners for co-branded campaigns. Geographic coverage is concentrated in the US and Canada, with Commerce Media currently active in Massachusetts, Colorado, and California and launching in Missouri, Michigan, Arizona, and New Mexico.

The company has raised a single disclosed $4M seed round in August 2021 led by Casa Verde Capital and has since scaled to 101-250 employees, 2,000+ retail partners, 200+ brand partners, and 3,000+ retail locations with active in-store inventory — implying meaningful revenue-funded growth on a minimal capital base. Leadership is anchored by co-founders Michael Blanche and Jonathon Lowen, with Eric Meth serving as Chief Revenue Officer. Surfside's strategic posture is to convert its data-graph and POS-integration footprint into a two-sided commerce-media marketplace across regulated verticals where mainstream ad-tech under-serves advertisers.

Name

Surfside

Legal name

Surfside Solutions Inc.

Website

https://surfside.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Surfside is a New York-based marketing technology platform that aggregates first-party customer data into personalized advertising campaigns and a commerce-media network for cannabis, CBD, beverage/alcohol, healthcare, and political advertisers across the US and Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Commerce Media Advertising: Surfside enables brands to advertise directly within e-commerce websites of retailers, securing priority placement and enhancing exposure. Retailers monetize their menus and create new revenue streams through brand-sponsored ad units. Brands pay for premium placement and campaign performance.
2. Platform Subscription / SaaS: Self-service tools and enterprise platform access for audience building, omni-channel media buying, and attribution. Payments via credit cards, ACH, wire transfers with monthly billing.
3. Data Services: Data enrichment services connecting customer touchpoints across platforms merged with Surfside's consumer-level attributes for audience targeting and insights.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Surfside is an end-to-end marketing technology platform that aggregates 1st party customer data across POS, e-commerce, and CRM touchpoints and activates it through a proprietary Customer Graph, in-house Demand Side Platform (DSP), audience builder, multi-touch attribution, and Commerce Media retail media placements. Its offerings serve cannabis dispensaries, wholesale brands, and adjacent verticals including CBD, beverage alcohol, healthcare, and political, providing targeting, activation, and measurement tied to in-store and online sales.

Product overview

Surfside is an end-to-end marketing technology platform that aggregates 1st party data across all customer touchpoints. The platform consists of four core modules: Commerce Media (retail media advertising), Omni-Channel Advertising (cross-device campaign activation), Audiences (custom audience building), and Attribution (multi-touch measurement). These modules are powered by Surfside's proprietary Customer Graph and Experience Graph, which encompass 98% of US/Canada consumers with 25,000+ behavioral attributes. Additional offerings include a Cannabis Co-Op Program for brand-retailer collaboration and an in-house Demand Side Platform (DSP) enabling activation across 700M+ devices and 1M+ apps and sites.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Commerce Media Retail media solution enabling brands to advertise directly within the e-commerce websites and marketplaces of cannabis, CBD, and BevAlc retailers. Allows retailers to monetize their menus through brand-sponsored ad units including interactive ads, sponsored product listings, native content, and on-site/off-site campaigns across 1M+ sites and apps.
• Omni-Channel Advertising Activates personalized and targeted campaigns across connected devices including desktop, mobile, tablet, OTT, and CTV through Surfside's owned-and-operated Demand Side Platform (DSP). Prioritizes consumers based on likelihood to convert.
• Audiences Self-service audience builder that merges 1st party customer data with Surfside's 25,000+ consumer-level behavioral attributes to create custom audiences for omni-channel ad campaigns, email, and SMS. Includes lookalike modeling to expand scale and conversion rates.
• Attribution Multi-touch attribution across all devices connecting media exposures to in-store and online sales. Provides real-time dashboards for ROAS, visits, dwell time, distance travelled, and other real-world success metrics.
• Cannabis Co-Op Program Program allowing wholesale cannabis brands to activate store-level 1st party consumer data for personalized digital media campaigns in partnership with 1,000+ retail stores, enabling closed-loop attribution across retail and ecommerce partners.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2x-4x ROAS for brands in Commerce Media program
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration30 records

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• SeedcoreTechnology or IntegrationSeed is an in-store engagement and marketing platform for cannabis retail featuring digital TV menus (Seed Signage), interactive kiosks (Seed Touch), and self-service ordering. Partnership enables Surfside to integrate with 800+ active dispensary storefronts for commerce media activation.
• BuddycoreTechnology or IntegrationBuddy is an end-to-end cannabis ecommerce platform powered by AI-driven sales optimization, fully customizable storefronts, and digital catalogs. Partnership enables commerce media integration for dispensaries using Buddy's platform.
• DutchiecoreTechnology or IntegrationDutchie is an online ordering platform for cannabis dispensaries. Partnership enables Surfside to deliver commerce media campaigns across Dutchie's dispensary network.
• TreezcoreTechnology or IntegrationTreez is an enterprise cloud commerce platform for the cannabis market. Partnership enables data integration and commerce media activation for Treez's retail and brand customers.
• FlowhubcoreTechnology or IntegrationFlexible cannabis retail platform automating compliance and customer experiences. Partnership enables data integration and commerce media activation.

Scale indicators19 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Springbig: Cannabis CRM and loyalty marketing platform serving dispensaries and brands. Direct competitor to Surfside in cannabis customer engagement and marketing automation, with overlapping customer base and similar go-to-market motion.
• Alpine IQ: Cannabis customer data platform and marketing automation provider for retailers and brands. Directly competes with Surfside in cannabis audience building, customer data unification, and omni-channel marketing activation.
• Leafly: Cannabis information and marketplace platform with a significant advertising business serving dispensaries and brands. Direct competitor in cannabis advertising, with overlapping customer base of dispensaries seeking consumer reach.
• Weedmaps: Cannabis marketplace with established advertising and retail media business serving dispensaries, brands, and ancillary businesses. Direct competitor in cannabis advertising, with comparable customer base and broader consumer reach via marketplace traffic.
• Dutchie: Leading cannabis e-commerce platform serving dispensaries with online ordering and emerging commerce media ambitions. Currently a Surfside partner but a potential competitor as Dutchie builds native retail media capabilities; overlaps in commerce media strategy and dispensary relationships.
• Treez: Enterprise cannabis commerce platform with POS, supply chain, and emerging data/analytics capabilities. Surfside partner with adjacent ad-tech overlap; potential competitor if Treez expands into commerce media and audience activation.

Emerging players

• Kevel: Retail media API infrastructure platform enabling retailers and marketplaces to build custom ad platforms. Comparable technology layer to Surfside's Commerce Media offering but serves retailers building their own platforms rather than Surfside's managed marketplace model.

Broad incumbents

• Criteo: Large retail media and performance marketing platform serving multiple verticals globally. Significantly broader scope and scale than Surfside; competes in retail media and audience targeting across mainstream e-commerce, but lacks Surfside's cannabis vertical specialization.
• The Trade Desk: Global independent programmatic DSP with massive scale and resources. Surfside's in-house DSP is comparable in technology category but operates at far smaller scale and narrower vertical focus; The Trade Desk represents both a potential competitor and a partner/inventory source.
• CitrusAd: Retail media platform owned by Publicis serving retailers and brands globally with sponsored product and on-site advertising solutions. Comparable in retail media product category to Surfside's Commerce Media, with significantly broader scale and resources but no cannabis specialization.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/surfside
• Xx.com/getsurfside

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Surfside