Swish Secures Seed Funding from Leading Retail Tech Investors to Revolutionize CPG Product Sampling

Company Aims to Transform How Brands Engage Consumers to Try Their Products, Leveraging Precise Targeting and Closed-Loop Measurement

DETROIT--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Swish, the pioneer of programmatic product trial, has closed a seed round led by BD Ventures, joined by a group of strategic retail tech and shopper marketing investors. Swish was founded on the idea of delivering consumers full-size, in-stock CPG products as samples directly through their regular grocery shopping. Powered by proprietary AI, the platform uses real transactional data to determine relevancy and personalize each shopper’s experience—seamlessly adding free products into first-party grocery orders, whether for pickup or delivery. By measuring future purchase behavior, Swish provides brands with true closed-loop results for their trial investments. And by removing the traditional costs and inefficiencies of sampling, Swish makes product discovery a seamless, expected part of the shopping journey.

“Ultimately, brands want customers to try and then buy their products,” said Adam Stave, CEO and co-founder of Swish. “Demos and mailers are expensive and hard to measure, while digital media continues to fall short. Swish treats the product itself as media—placed directly into baskets, at the right time, for the right people. We offer a massive unlock for retailers and brands looking for measurable performance in product trial.”

The investment was led by BD Ventures, founded by Jonathan Opdyke and Roger Ehrenberg, which invests in consumer brands and enabling technologies. Opdyke was the co-founder and CEO of HookLogic, which pioneered the retail media industry with its sponsored products platform, acquired by Criteo, and more recently led the seed round and closely advised retail media platform Symbiosys, acquired by DoorDash. Roger founded IA Ventures, one of the most successful seed stage venture capital firms of its generation, with seed investments including The Trade Desk, DataDog, Digital Ocean, and Wise, plus earlier investments in marketing companies like Buddy Media and Invite Media.

“Product trial is the fundamental goal of all consumer-packaged goods marketing,” said Jonathan Opdyke, Managing Partner of BD Ventures. “Shoppers don’t truly become customers until they actually consume or use the product and decide to buy again. Adam and the Swish team are reinventing this equation for digital commerce, creating a true win-win-win for brands, retailers, and consumers. We believe this could fundamentally change how CPG brands go to market.”

Additional investors in the deal are a who’s who of retail media and CPG technology innovation. They include:

• Jordan Berke, CEO and founder of TOMORROW, former head of Walmart China ecommerce
• Scott Friend, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures and investor in HookLogic, Jet.com, Wonder, Mirakl and Attentive
• Anil Aggarwal, CEO and founder of ShopTalk, Groceryshop, Retail Club conferences
• Mathieu Azorin, CEO and co-founder of Storetail (acquired by Criteo)
• Al Muzaurieta, President and founder of Good Apple digital media agency
• Several former executives of HookLogic and Citrus Ad
• Continued support from pre-seed investors ID Ventures and MI Rise Pre-Seed Fund

Swish helps retailers and brands drive household penetration, category adoption, and loyalty by turning full-size product trial into a measurable growth engine. Unlike traditional sampling, Swish’s proprietary AI engine targets households most likely to convert, capturing new-to-brand purchases within days and tracking repeat sales well beyond the first trial. Early pilots with retailers including Stater Brothers have proven how quickly the model drives incremental penetration, velocity, and lifetime value.

“Swish was built to solve the real challenges we hear every day from retailers and brands,” said Adam Stave, Founder & CEO of Swish. “Retailers need profitable ecommerce, bigger baskets, and happier shoppers. Brands need measurable, targeted ways to win new customers and prove impact. With this seed round and the backing of experienced leaders in retail media and ecommerce, we’re ready to scale Swish to major retailers and make merchandise the next powerful form of media.”

Every trial counts as a full sale for the retailer, enters shopper history, and fuels “buy again” behavior while strengthening retail media algorithms. Swish sees product not just as a sample, but as the catalyst for integrated campaigns that build long-term loyalty. Designed as a headless solution, Swish makes it simple for retailers to launch—whether integrated through partners like Upshop or directly within their existing ecommerce tech stack.

For more information, visit swishbx.com.

About Swish

Swish is the pioneer of programmatic product trial, transforming traditional sampling into a data-driven, measurable growth channel. Its platform allows brands to launch targeted, full-size trial campaigns that reach the right households, inspire discovery, and build loyalty fast. Powered by proprietary AI, Swish matches products to high-intent shoppers at the right moments—driving repeat purchases and lifetime value. For retailers, Swish creates a new revenue stream within retail media and ecommerce, boosting GMV, baskets, and customer satisfaction. It’s automated. It’s transparent. And it works.

www.swishbx.com

About BD Ventures

BD Ventures is the venture capital arm of Brand:Detroit, a multi-stage investment firm focused on building world-class consumer brands in Detroit. Founded by Roger Ehrenberg and Jonathan Opdyke, BD Ventures invests in early stage consumer brands and promising technologies that support and enable them. Investments include Casamara Club, ChurchSpace, Marrow Detroit Provisions, Bask Detroit, Bev’s Bagels, and Swish. For more information visit:
www.branddetroit.com