In a bid to reshape online shopping, Onton, an AI-powered eCommerce search startup, has raised $7.5 million in fresh funding. The new capital, announced on Wednesday (Nov. 26), will fuel the company’s efforts to expand its product, enhance its team, and broaden its market presence.
Onton, which seeks to address the complexities and frustrations of modern online shopping, promises to streamline the consumer decision-making process by using a neurosymbolic AI foundation that provides intelligent, personalized search results in real-time.
“Shopping has quietly become one of the hardest problems on the internet,” Onton stated in a news release. “People spend a collective lifetime moving between tabs, filtering through over-SEO’d listings, comparing conflicting reviews, and trying to work out what is real and what is marketing.”
Onton’s goal is to transform the search experience from a frustrating, time-consuming process into a quick, intelligent, and transparent decision-making journey.
Addressing the Challenges of Online Shopping
As online shopping grows, so does the complexity of discovering products and making purchase decisions. Onton pointed out that 79 days is the average time it takes a person to make a single purchase decision—an issue exacerbated by overly cluttered search results, SEO-driven listings, and advertising incentives that deprioritize relevance.
Onton’s founders argue that traditional search engines and eCommerce platforms are ill-equipped to solve these problems, relying on outdated keyword matching, filters, and other non-intuitive mechanisms. Instead, Onton aims to reimagine the shopping process by integrating a neuromorphic AI system that learns and evolves with every search.
| Traditional Search Methods | Onton’s Approach |
|---|---|
| Keyword matching | Neurosymbolic AI foundation |
| Outdated filters | Personalized, real-time accuracy |
| Relevance deprioritized by ads | Transparent, expert-level recommendations |
| Slow decision-making (79 days) | Instant decision-making in minutes |
The company believes its AI-driven solution will empower users to move from discovery to decision within minutes, sidestepping the complexity and frustration that comes with traditional eCommerce search platforms.
Reducing Friction in Online Shopping
According to Zach Hudson, Onton’s co-founder and CEO, the company is building a system designed to provide an experience that feels as natural as speaking with a knowledgeable friend:
“Onton is designed to remove the friction that slows everyone down and to give users absolute confidence in their choices.”
The company aims to create a transparent, intelligent, and effortless shopping experience, setting itself apart from other platforms that continue to rely on outdated search methods and advertising-driven listings that often obscure the most relevant results.
Onton’s neurosymbolic AI foundation evolves over time, learning from user searches to improve the accuracy and relevance of its results. In a shopping environment where consumers demand speed and transparency, Onton’s technology promises to accelerate decision-making and reduce the time spent searching for products.
AI in eCommerce: A Key to the Future
Onton’s funding comes at a pivotal moment in the AI-powered eCommerce landscape, where AI-driven shopping tools are becoming integral to holiday season sales and consumer engagement. Bank of America Securities projects that ChatGPT alone will handle roughly 20 billion shopping-related messages this year, reflecting the growing role of AI in the eCommerce sector.
“AI agents are fast becoming the new gatekeepers of commerce, shrinking discovery from thousands of listings to a handful of curated options and collapsing checkout into a single click,” PYMNTS highlighted in a recent report.
With tools like OpenAI’s Instant Checkout already live, conversational platforms are evolving into marketplaces, reducing the time it takes to find a product and complete a purchase. This shift is creating both new opportunities and new challenges, especially when it comes to fraud, chargebacks, and consumer trust.
Onton’s new AI-powered search technology is expected to play a major role in addressing these challenges by streamlining product discovery, while improving both the user experience and transactional security.
How Onton Plans to Use the New Funding
Onton’s $7.5 million funding round will be used to advance several key objectives:
- Expand the product to further optimize AI search functionality and improve decision-making accuracy.
- Grow the team to strengthen research and development efforts in neurosymbolic AI.
- Extend market footprint to serve a growing number of eCommerce platforms that are increasingly relying on AI for product discovery and customer engagement.
As Onton continues to refine its AI search technology, it aims to position itself as a key player in the eCommerce industry, meeting the needs of consumers who demand more intelligent and personalized shopping experiences.
Final Thoughts
With $7.5 million in new funding and an innovative approach to AI-driven eCommerce search, Onton is positioning itself at the forefront of the growing AI eCommerce industry. As online shopping becomes increasingly complex and time-consuming, Onton’s technology promises to reduce friction, accelerate decision-making, and provide transparency in a way that empowers consumers to shop intelligently and confidently.
FAQs
What is Onton’s mission?
Onton aims to revolutionize the eCommerce search experience by using AI-driven, neurosymbolic search to reduce the time spent searching for products, making it as simple as consulting with a knowledgeable friend.
How does Onton’s AI search work?
Onton uses neurosymbolic AI, which learns and improves with each search, providing more relevant, transparent results to help consumers make faster and more informed decisions.
How will the funding be used?
The $7.5 million will support product expansion, team growth, and increased market reach as Onton scales its AI search capabilities.
What role is AI playing in eCommerce today?
AI is becoming an integral part of product discovery, customer engagement, and checkout processes, with tools like AI agents and chatbots playing a major role in the holiday shopping season.
How does Onton differ from traditional eCommerce search engines?
Unlike traditional search engines, Onton doesn’t rely on keyword matching or outdated filters. Instead, it provides real-time, personalized results by using a neurosymbolic AI foundation that improves over time.