San Francisco–based startup GIGR (doing business as Playad) said it has raised $5.4 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate the development of AI-powered marketing agents designed to help companies create, test, and optimise advertising creative with less manual effort.
The round was led by BRV Capital Management and Mirae Asset Venture Investment, with participation from angel investors including Krafton board member Bora Chung, Hyprsense founder Jihun Yu, and Krew Capital, the company said.
GIGR is developing an AI-native, multi-agent workflow that spans the full advertising creative lifecycle, from briefing and production to experimentation, measurement, and iteration.
The company said existing marketing tools remain fragmented, forcing teams to rely on slow handoffs and retrospective analysis with limited guidance on what creative to build next.
The startup’s first product, Playad, launched in the third quarter of 2025 and focuses initially on interactive advertising formats, particularly in gaming.
These formats often deliver higher conversion rates and lower cost-per-install by allowing users to engage directly with a product, while generating granular performance data such as taps and user choices.
Despite their effectiveness, interactive ads have historically been expensive and slow to produce, requiring specialised development resources.
GIGR said Playad enables marketers to rapidly build and iterate interactive ads, turning creative production into a repeatable, test-driven workflow at a fraction of the cost.
The platform is designed to support rapid A/B testing and experimentation, and is being built to extend beyond interactive ads into image and video formats within a single system.
GIGR was founded by a seven-member team with backgrounds spanning gaming, AI, finance, and large technology firms, including former executives from Bagelcode, Bank of America, YouTube, and PlayStation.
The funding underscores rising investor interest in AI agents that move beyond content generation to decision-making and iteration.
By targeting interactive ads, where performance signals are clearer, GIGR is betting that automation and faster feedback loops can materially improve return on ad spend, particularly in gaming and performance-driven marketing sectors.
