Sam Kroonenburg knows what a billion-dollar exit looks like. He also knows what happens after the champagne. For the A Cloud Guru co-founder, the next act is a bet that the most expensive part of digital advertising,the creative,is a data problem waiting for a closed loop.
His company, Cuttable, has analyzed over $320 million in Meta ad spend across 280,000 ads run through its platform [The Agile Brand Guide®, October 2026]. The platform’s job is straightforward: turn a brand’s product catalog and existing assets into on-brand photo and video ads for Meta and TikTok, then use the performance results to inform the next batch [Capital Brief, October 2026]. The reported result is a system where one in eleven ads returns ten times its spend or better [The Agile Brand Guide®, October 2026]. For performance marketers drowning in creative fatigue, that’s a number that gets attention.
The Closed-Loop Bet
Most AI ad tools stop at generation. Cuttable’s wedge is the feedback loop. The platform starts with a brand’s own photography and assets, uses AI for the heavy lifting of scaling variations, and publishes directly to ad channels [PR Newswire APAC]. Every click, view, and conversion is then fed back into the system to steer future creative decisions [Home - Cuttable]. Founder Sam Kroonenburg framed the bet simply: AI had been taught to make ads, but not sufficiently to learn from them [Capital Brief, October 2026].
This positions Cuttable not as a creative agency replacement, but as a performance system. The platform keeps ads layered and editable, requiring final human approval [PR Newswire APAC]. The goal is to augment the team, not replace it, turning creative from a bottleneck into a scalable, data-informed process.
Funding a Global Push from Melbourne
The ambition has attracted serious capital. Cuttable has raised approximately A$36 million (about $30 million) in total funding, culminating in a A$20 million Series A led by AirTree Ventures in October 2026 [AdNews, October 2026]. Square Peg, an early backer, continued its support through the round [Capital Brief, October 2026]. The funding trajectory shows consistent investor conviction.
| Date | Round | Amount (A$) | Lead Investor | Reported Valuation (A$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-2024 | Seed | 5.5M | Square Peg | Not disclosed [AdNews, November 2025] |
| Aug 2025 | Seed Extension | 4.5M | Not disclosed | 44.5M [Startup Daily, March 2026] |
| Mar 2026 | Financing | 5.7M | Not disclosed | 100M [AdNews, March 2026] |
| Oct 2026 | Series A | 20M | AirTree Ventures | Not disclosed [Capital Brief, October 2026] |
Traction Beyond the Beachhead
The capital has fueled a rapid, global customer grab. From a 2024 R&D phase working with Australian giants like Kogan and Wesfarmers, Cuttable now reports more than 440 e-commerce brands across the US, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Europe [AdNews, October 2026]. The customer roster has evolved from early adopters like Frank Body and Merry People to include international names such as lululemon, Cotton On, and Brooks Running [AdNews, March 2026][B&T, October 2026].
This growth suggests the product resonates beyond a regional test market. For a retailer like Catch.com.au, which adopted Cuttable to personalize communications across millions of products, the value is in sheer scale [AdNews, November 2025]. The platform also allows marketing agencies to manage separate accounts for their clients, opening a secondary distribution channel [Terms of Service - Cuttable].
The Founder's Second Act
The team is Cuttable’s other non-obvious advantage. Kroonenburg’s exit from A Cloud Guru, which sold for over $2 billion in 2021, provides more than just a personal runway [AdNews, October 2026]. It brings a founder’s understanding of scaling a global SaaS business from Australia and a network of investors who have seen him deliver.
He is joined by co-founders with complementary backgrounds: Jack White, co-founder of the food business Sunday Gravy, and Ed Ring, a former marketer at Swisse [AdNews, October 2026]. This blend of tech-scale, consumer brand, and performance marketing DNA is a deliberate assembly.
Where the Creative Meets the Algorithm
The risks for Cuttable are not about competition from unnamed AI wrappers. They are inherent in its core bet. The platform’s effectiveness is tied to the quality and actionability of the performance data it ingests. Noisy or poorly structured campaigns could weaken the learning signal. Furthermore, the creative process is famously subjective; convincing brand managers to trust an algorithm with their brand voice remains a nuanced sales motion, even with a human-in-the-loop editor.
The company’s answer lies in its traction metrics and investor patience. With over $320 million in ad spend already analyzed, the system is learning from real-world outcomes, not hypotheticals [The Agile Brand Guide®, October 2026]. The continued backing from firms like Square Peg and AirTree suggests confidence that the closed loop can be refined and that the market,e-commerce brands spending heavily on Meta and TikTok,is large enough to justify the build.
AirTree led the A$20 million Series A in October 2026, bringing total funding to roughly A$36 million [AdNews, October 2026]. Square Peg, which wrote the first check in 2024, followed on [Capital Brief, October 2026]. The valuation reportedly doubled to A$100 million in March of that year [AdNews, March 2026]. The question for Kroonenburg and his backers is no longer whether AI can make an ad, but whether a system that learns from $320 million in spend can become the default creative engine for a generation of direct-to-consumer brands.
Sources
- [AdNews, November 2025] Automated content agency Cuttable raises $5.5 million | https://www.adnews.com.au/news/automated-content-agency-cuttable-raises-5-5-million
- [SmartCompany, August 2025] Cuttable tops up seed round with $4.5 million for AI advertising platform | https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/cuttable-raises-extra-4-million-seed-ai-advertising-platform/
- [Startup Daily, March 2026] Cheque in: 9 startups raised $393.3 million to end March | https://www.startupdaily.net/topic/funding/cheque-in-9-startups-raised-393-3-million-to-end-march/
- [AdNews, March 2026] Melbourne advertising startup Cuttable doubles valuation to $100 million | https://www.adnews.com.au/news/melbourne-advertising-startup-cuttable-doubles-valuation-to-100-million
- [Capital Brief, October 2026] Cuttable raises $20m and relaunches AI ad platform | https://www.capitalbrief.com/briefing/cuttable-raises-20m-and-relaunches-ai-ad-platform-daec3e5a-a6e8-41e8-b494-f36b48293b5c/
- [AdNews, October 2026] Cuttable raises $20 million in funding round led by Airtree Venture | https://www.adnews.com.au/news/cuttable-raises-20-million-in-funding-round-led-by-airtree-venture
- [B&T, October 2026] Cuttable Raises $20M In Series A Funding, Relaunches AI Ad Platform | https://www.bandt.com.au/cuttable-raises-20m-in-series-a-funding-relaunches-ai-ad-platform/
- [The Agile Brand Guide®, October 2026] Across 280,000 ads and more than $320 million in Meta spend | Source content not directly linked
- [PR Newswire APAC] Works with more than 440 ecommerce brands | Source content not directly linked
- [Home - Cuttable] Platform claims and descriptions | https://www.cuttable.com/
- [Terms of Service - Cuttable] Agency use clause | Source content not directly linked