San Francisco-based startup GIGR (dba. Playad) has announced it has secured $5.4 million in pre-seed funding to expedite the development of its AI marketing agents, which aim to streamline advertising creative workflows while reducing manual effort and guesswork. The funding round was spearheaded by BRV Capital Management and Mirae Asset Venture Investment, with contributions from angel investors such as Bora Chung, Jihun Yu, and Krew Capital.
Despite advances in marketing tools, producing effective ad creative remains a complex and costly endeavor. Traditionally, the process is characterized by a series of handoffs and revisions, often culminating in a fragmented understanding of performance. GIGR posits that the future of marketing lies not in new tools but in an AI-native workflow that leverages performance signals for rapid iterations. This approach aims to turn the creative cycle into a continuous learning process.
The company’s product, Playad, is set to launch in the third quarter of 2025 and will initially focus on interactive ads. These ad formats are prevalent in the gaming sector due to their ability to engage users more deeply, often resulting in higher conversion rates at lower cost per install (CPI). Interactive ads also provide detailed analytics on user engagement, allowing marketers to refine their campaigns based on specific behaviors like taps and swipes. A recent industry analysis indicated that the performance of playable ads reached record highs in 2025, underscoring the effectiveness of such formats.
Historically, however, creating interactive ads has been a slow and costly process, often requiring specialized developers. Playad aims to democratize this process, enabling marketers to efficiently create and iterate on ad creative, transforming what is often a bottleneck into a streamlined workflow. The platform facilitates rapid experimentation, allowing teams to A/B test interactive ads and generate multiple variations quickly.
While interactive formats are the initial focus, Playad is designed as a comprehensive AI-native creative platform, enabling users to develop and iterate across various media types, including images and videos, within a unified system. “Marketing performance increasingly depends on how quickly teams can learn from creative – and act on it,” said Steve Chung, co-founder of GIGR. “We’re building AI agents that make iteration the default, so teams can quickly apply what’s already working across the market to their next creative without sacrificing quality.”
Customers are drawn to Playad for the speed of output, but they remain loyal due to the platform’s workflow efficiency. Users have reported significant reductions in production costs, with some experiencing decreases of up to 90%, alongside measurable gains in acquisition efficiency.
“We’re not trying to simply produce ‘more assets,’” stated Jay Cho, CEO and co-founder of GIGR. “We’re building a system where every launch creates learning – and that learning directly improves the next creative decision. Creative is the most important lever for improving return on ad spend (ROAS) in modern marketing, and we are going beyond just efficiency gains to help businesses eliminate uncertainty across their decisions in digital advertising.”
GIGR’s founding team comprises professionals with backgrounds in high-growth startups and major technology firms, driven by a shared mission to eliminate barriers in creative iteration and ad performance. Notably, the team includes a seven-founder structure, allowing for diverse expertise and a unified vision for the company’s goals.
With their collective experience, the founders aim to reshape marketing workflows through their innovative platform. As the demand for efficient and effective advertising solutions continues to grow, the success of GIGR’s Playad could signal a significant shift in how brands approach their creative strategies, enhancing their ability to respond to market dynamics in real-time.
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