AI Startup Rembrand Raises $23 Million In Series A Round of Funding

Virtual product placement startup Rembrand has raised $23 million in Series A funding to broaden its generative AI-powered capabilities and launch new business models.

The round was led by super{set}. The Trade Desk, Naver D2SF, and existing investors including BOLD (L’Oréal’s corporate venture fund) and Greycroft also participated in the round of funding. Two-year-old Rembrand has raised a total of $31 million, and the company counts Pepsi, L’Oréal, Garnier, Charles Schwab, Amazon, Virgin Galactic, and Lenovo as clients.

Rembrand’s technology analyzes video frames of creators’ YouTube and TikTok videos using gen AI to find opportunities to slide in product placements. Unlike traditional gen AI that relies on text or image prompts, Rembrand’s technology analyzes each video frame to pinpoint an ideal in-scene placement opportunities—whether it’s a table, a shelf, or a wall.

With the funding, Rembrand plans to expand this expertise beyond social media to placing ads in connected TV and movies, CEO Omar Tawakol told ADWEEK. The startup is working with a production studio specializing in travel and cooking shows, though Rembrand declined to name the production studio.

Rembrand’s technology automates the traditionally labor- and time-intensive process of product placement and identifies the ideal locations for ads within each frame.

“Today, if you want to get into movie, you’ve got to negotiate to get into the script two years in advance for a can of soda to show up on the kitchen counter,” said Tawakol. “With Rembrand’s technology, you can add that product virtually in post-production. For instance, viewers in France might see a Perrier, while those in New York see a Pepsi.”

More product placements in videos

Rembrand will also open its AI Studio to all creators in the first quarter. The studio launched this past summer as a beta program. The platform allows creators to add virtual products to their videos, while brands can directly manage their creator partnerships.

Rembrand charges marketers on a cost-per-impression model for products that appear in videos, and creators are paid on CPMs, or the cost to reach one thousand impressions.

Rembrand also plans to make money through licensing its technology to brands, opening up a new revenue stream for the company. In this setup, brands pay technology fees to license Rembrand’s technology and use their existing relationships with creators to run campaigns instead of purchasing CPM-based placements.