Velocity

Velocity is an infrastructure provider focused on monetization and distribution for AI-native applications. The company was established in 2026 by former senior executives from ironSource and Unity: Tal Shoham (CEO), Amir Shaked (COO), and Nimrod Zota (CPO). Drawing on over a decade of experience in building large-scale advertising and monetization platforms for mobile developers, the founding team aims to replicate that success for the AI sector, a concept the CEO refers to as building "the ironSource of AI". In July 2026, Velocity announced a significant $27 million seed funding round led by NFX and Red Dot Capital Partners. This financing is intended to scale its platform, which addresses a core economic challenge for AI companies: the high cost of inference for a large base of free users, coupled with low subscription conversion rates. The company operates with a team of around 20 employees from its research and development center in Israel. Velocity's platform is designed to create an additional revenue stream for AI companies that complements subscriptions. It functions as an intent-driven advertising layer. The system uses machine learning models to analyze conversations, context, and user interactions in real time to identify the user's immediate goal or intent. This structured intent data then allows for the delivery of relevant recommendations, offers, and commercial messages directly within the AI experience. The technology stack consists of three main components: a dedicated advertising network for AI, a mediation and auction system to optimize demand, and a conversation intelligence engine that generates privacy-conscious intent signals. This model enables AI application developers to extend free usage for their customers instead of implementing restrictive paywalls, thereby fostering user engagement and growth while still generating revenue. Early adopters of the technology include AI companies like Leadtech/MAU and AIBY's Chaton. Keywords: AI monetization, AI distribution, intent-driven advertising, AI-native applications, adtech, revenue generation, user intent, monetization infrastructure, AI advertising network, ironSource, Unity, Tal Shoham, Amir Shaked, Nimrod Zota, conversation intelligence, AI economy, generative AI, machine learning, commercial signal, AI revenue, application monetization, seed funding, Red Dot Capital Partners, NFX