Oaken Axwood

San Francisco-forged, now Point Richmond fire. Lover, Philosopher, Fighter, Musician. Fascinated by the brain.

[Oaken Axwood @kaneruss]

Turn it up #acousticbangers - Dust on the Bottle - S/O David Lee Murphy - https://t.co/Bmue4ZmLNl

[Mike Choi @guard_if]

13 months ago we bet that AI apps deserve better than banner ads. Today we raised $20.5M to keep proving it.

Just getting started over here @koahlabs.

[Tomasz Tunguz @ttunguz]

It's been a long time since I've been this excited about something in ads.

Every major interface shift finds its answer to meeting the needs of a massive audience in advertising : TV, web, mobile, streaming. Each is a hundreds-of-billions-of-dollars market. AI will be no different.

Today we announced Theory Ventures is leading @koahlabs $20.5M Series A, with participation from our friends at @ForerunnerVC & @spc .

Koah is building the monetization layer for AI applications. As AI search reaches its tipping point, assistants are becoming the primary source of information for many decisions. But AI apps face mounting pressure to monetize without compromising user experience.

AI advertising operates differently than search or social. Inside a conversation, Koah’s system processes the full semantic context of a query in real time.

When a user asks an assistant “I’m training for a marathon and my knees hurt, should I switch to minimalist shoes or get more cushioning?”, the system understands intent, constraint, & decision stage simultaneously. The ad that surfaces isn’t matched to a keyword or a profile. It’s matched to a specific moment in a purchase decision.

Or consider a developer asking “I’m building an agentic app that needs to store conversation history & vector embeddings. Which database should I use?” Only within agentic coding can a vendor be there precisely at the right moment. An agentic app builder can provide inference offset by ads.

The result : 7.5% average click-through rates. That’s 4-5x the display advertising baseline.

Over the past 12 months, Koah has processed more than 170 million queries & 35 million native ad impressions. Publishers using Koah’s native formats saw 122% higher click-through rates than their previous display implementations. Liner grew DAU 454% while monetizing with Koah. Growth & revenue moving together, not against each other. Retention remained near 100% in live chat environments.

Luke Kim, CEO of Liner, put it well :

“Since adopting Koah’s ad formats, we’ve consistently increased CTR & coverage, without eroding any of the trust at the core of our product.”
The Koah team came through South Park Commons. All three founders, Nic Baird, Mike Choi, & Herrick Fang, were Founder Fellows. Before Koah, they overlapped at three companies : Affirm, Supermove, & Qualified.

This category will define the next decade of the internet. We’re thrilled to partner with Nic & the Koah team powering AI for millions.

If you’d like to get started with your AI app, sign up here. https://t.co/f2BL8X96QM

[Koah @koahlabs]

AI apps are leaving billions on the table because there's no good way to monetize them.

We're fixing that. $20.5M Series A funding led by @Theoryvc

With participation from @ForerunnerVC, @spc, @AndrewKaram

[Oaken Axwood @kaneruss]

@koahlabs @ForerunnerVC @spc 🚀🚀🚀🚀

[Koah @koahlabs]

Koah has raised a $5M seed round led by @ForerunnerVC, with participation from @spc.

In just 8 months, apps reaching 100M+ users are monetizing sustainably with Koah’s AI-native ads.

We deliver $10+ eCPMs, premium demand, and minimal impact on retention. We are quickly becoming the standard for consumer AI monetization.

This round will accelerate our mission to make scalable, native monetization effortless for every AI app.

[Brian Roemmele @BrianRoemmele]

The palisades are strait out of a horror movie, because it has become one for so many.

Praying for them.

[Bill Simmons @BillSimmons]

Much love to the firefighters, LAPD, first responders, chopper pilots and everyone else trying to protect so many great parts of extended LA these last 48 hours. And thanks to the TV crews, reporters, @LosAngeles_Scan and others for keeping the info coming. ❤️❤️❤️

[Oaken Axwood @kaneruss]

Happy New Year 😎 from Logan Peterson 🎸: https://t.co/B1oOkCudyL #AcousticGuitar #folk #music 🎵🎙️🎶🎼

[Oaken Axwood @kaneruss]

In the spirit of #GivingTuesday2024 please consider @losaliados_ec: a #nonprofit focused on empowering Amazonian entrepreneurs. For a few more hours, World Centric will be matching any donation dollar-for-dollar ——> watch/share the video to learn more 👉 https://t.co/GLAAyh6QnH

[Tyler Rogoway @Aviation_Intel]

I am absolutely moved and a bit stunned by all the incredible support and positivity here. Thank you all so much, it means more than you know.

[Oaken Axwood @kaneruss]

@SantoriniDave, my name is Kane. Sent you a e-note, but wanted to get some advice on an ideal 40th bday for my girlfriend who I care about a ton. In Santorini May 1st, wanted to ask an expert about the perfect day for her: e.g hike, view, restaurant, waterfall, etc. HUGE thanks

[Sara Fischer @sarafischer]

Exclusive: MEL Magazine acquired from Dollar Shave Club by Recurrent Ventures
https://t.co/iT82M9R9Vx

[Steven Perlberg @perlberg]

Recurrent Ventures has hired @ryanvailbrown to turn MEL Magazine into a real media business as it hunts for more acquisitions to add to its lifestyle group https://t.co/EBpxDOgGOl

[Ian Douglass 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇧🇸 @StreamGlass]

If a fitness product takes something that's already easy and makes it even easier, it's a waste of your money.

[MEL Magazine @WeAreMel]

‘Con Air’ showed Nic Cage departing from the types of roles that built his reputation, prompting viewers to accuse the actor of “selling out.”

@TimGrierson on the ludicrous, critically derided 1997 film that gave us a glimpse of who Cage would become https://t.co/V9lsOeGcyD

[Futurism @futurism]

Okay, this is messy. https://t.co/vMIG1JiKux

[Popular Science @PopSci]

An awesome, disorienting look at kitty vision. https://t.co/LhDeTU2Q68

[DOLLAROCRACY.com @DOLLAROCRACY]

Futurism Bought by VC-Backed Firm Recurrent Ventures, Which Seeks to Become Media Power Player https://t.co/mS1I8V2XLp