Cuttable Startup Story: The AI AdTech Scaling to a $100M Valuation

Introduction

Every great startup starts with one simple idea. The Cuttable startup story is no different. It began in Melbourne, Australia, with three people who saw a real problem. Small brands were spending too much time and money making ads. Therefore, they developed a more efficient method for creating advertisements.

Today, Cuttable is an AI-automated advertising startup worth $100 million. It got there in just a few years. And the journey is one every founder, marketer, and investor should know about.

In this article, you will learn who built Cuttable and why. You will also learn how it works, how it raises money, and what makes it different. Let’s get started.

The Founders Behind the Cuttable Startup Story

The Cuttable startup story starts with three co-founders. Each one brought a different skill to the team. Together, they built something powerful.

Sam Kroonenburg is the most well-known of the three. He co-founded A Cloud Guru in 2015 with his brother Ryan. That company helped IT workers learn cloud computing skills online. In 2021, Pluralsight bought A Cloud Guru for roughly $2 billion. That was one of the biggest startup sales in Australian history. So, when Sam joined Cuttable, investors paid close attention.

Jack White co-founded Sunday Gravy, a Melbourne ad agency. He spent years helping brands build ad campaigns. As a result, he knew exactly how slow and costly the process was. He saw how much time brands lost on ad production every week.

Ed Ring added deep marketing knowledge to the mix. He worked at Swisse, a well-known Australian health brand. There, he managed large marketing budgets and learned what brands really needed.

Sam did not start as a co-founder. He came in as an investor first. But the more he saw the vision, the more he wanted to build it. “The opportunity at Cuttable was too good to pass up,” he said. “As I got closer, I saw how much of a role automation and AI can play in advertising.”

So, Sam stepped in as co-CEO alongside Jack. Ed rounded out the team. Together, they got to work.

One key lesson Sam carried over from A Cloud Guru was simple: great companies need great people. As a result, Cuttable made team-building a top priority from day one.

What Is Cuttable? The AI Automated Advertising Platform Explained

Before we talk about the growth, let’s talk about the product. What does Cuttable actually do?

In short, Cuttable is an AI-automated advertising startup that works like a smart ad agency. It connects to a brand’s online store. Then it studies the brand’s colors, fonts, logos, and products. Thereafter, it builds hundreds of ready-to-run ads in just minutes.

Think of it like Canva for ads, but faster and smarter. Canva lets you design things by hand. Cuttable does the heavy lifting for you. What used to take an agency several weeks, Cuttable does in a few minutes.

Here is why it matters for growing brands:

• Speed: Get hundreds of on-brand ads in minutes, not weeks.
• Lower cost: Pay far less than a traditional ad agency charges.
• More testing: Try more ad versions to find what works best.
• Brand safety: Every ad looks and feels on-brand every time.

Cuttable focuses on one key market: small and mid-sized e-commerce brands. These are the brands that cannot afford a big agency. But they still need great ads to grow on Facebook and Instagram.

Kroonenburg explained the pain perfectly: “These founders are doing everything—packing orders, managing support, and building ads at 1 a.m. ” What they really need is time, clarity, and quality. That’s what we give them.”

Because of this focus, Cuttable gained traction fast. Early clients included big names like Wesfarmers, Medibank, Nando’s, Penfolds, DiDi, and Kogan. These results demonstrated the product’s effectiveness on a large scale from the very beginning.

Cuttable’s Funding Journey: From Seed Round to $100M Valuation

Round 1 — The $5.5M Seed Round (July 2024)

The first big moment in the Cuttable story came in July 2024. The team raised $5.5 million in a seed round. Square Peg Capital led the deal. Rampersand also joined, along with a group of ad industry angels.

At that point, Cuttable was still early. But it already had real clients and a clear product vision. So, the funding helped the team build faster and get ready for a public launch.

Round 2 — The $4.5M Seed Top-Up (August 2025)

By August 2025, the team had spent a year deep in build mode. Then they launched publicly. Almost at once, well-loved brands signed up. Frank Body, Merry People, and Bare Leather were among the first. The buzz was real.

So, the team raised $4.5 million more, bringing total seed funding to $10 million. This pushed the valuation to about $44.5 million. Square Peg led again. Rampersand came back, too. Brand Fund, the VC arm of Previously Unavailable, also joined in.

The team used the money for global expansion, AI development, and onboarding more e-commerce brands.

Round 3—The $4 million raise and $70 million valuation (early 2026)

Early 2026 brought another big milestone. Cuttable raised $4 million and doubled its valuation to $70 million. New investors joined this round, including Airtree, Glitch Capital, and Benjamin Duncan.

Airtree’s involvement was especially meaningful. They had backed Sam’s last company, A Cloud Guru. Therefore, their return showed strong belief in his ability to build big companies again. Moreover, this round marked the start of Cuttable’s US push, as American brands showed growing interest in the platform.

Round 4 — The $5.7M Raise and $100M Valuation (March 2026)

Then came the biggest moment yet. In March 2026, Cuttable raised $5.7 million and hit a $100 million valuation. Square Peg and Rampersand increased their investments. Airtree, Glitch Capital, and Benjamin Duncan also took part.

In total, Cuttable has now raised nearly $16 million. For a startup this young, that is a remarkable result. And the speed of growth made the Cuttable $100M valuation feel well-earned.

Why Investors Believe in Cuttable AI AdTech

A Founder With a $2 Billion Track Record

Investors do not just back products. They back people. Sam Kroonenburg sold his last company for $2 billion. So, when he started Cuttable, people listened. When Airtree backed him again, that sent a very clear signal: this founder delivers.

The Timing Could Not Be Better

Two big shifts are happening at once. First, brands need more digital ads than ever. Second, AI can now automate creative work that used to take large teams. Cuttable sits right at the crossroads of both. As a result, the timing for Cuttable AI adtech is almost perfect.

The Numbers Back It Up

In a recent program across Australia and New Zealand, brands using Cuttable saw a 13x return on ad spend. This is a compelling statistic. Furthermore, over 200 brands across Australia, New Zealand, and the US now use the platform. And that list keeps growing every week.

The US Is Already Pulling Them In

About 50% of Cuttable’s inbound leads now come from the United States. So, the company opened a New York office in early 2026. This was not a bold bet. It was a response to real demand that was already knocking on the door.

How Cuttable Differs From Traditional Ad Agencies

Most small brands face a tough choice. They can hire an agency and pay a lot. Or they can make ads themselves and achieve poor results. Until now, there has been no adequate middle ground.

Traditional agencies are slow and costly. A single ad campaign can take weeks and cost thousands of dollars. For a small e-commerce brand, that is just not worth it.

Cuttable fixes the situation. It connects to a brand’s own assets, logos, product photos, fonts, and brand colors. Then it uses AI to build hundreds of ready-to-run ads fast. Every ad stays on-brand. And every ad is built to perform on Meta.

Jack White put it simply: “Cuttable aims to enable every agency and brand to return to the glory days of advertising, when they could spend the time needed to craft the big brand idea.”

In other words, Cuttable does not kill creativity. Instead, it frees it. When brands stop wasting hours on production, they can focus on big ideas. They can build stronger stories. They can connect better with customers. That is a key insight that sets Cuttable apart from most AI tools on the market.

Cuttable’s Expansion Into the US Market

The New York office opening in early 2026 marks a bold new step in the Cuttable AI adtech journey. The US is the world’s biggest ad market. American e-commerce moves trillions of dollars every year. So, the demand for fast, high-quality ad creative is higher there than anywhere else.

Cuttable chose New York for good reason. It is the heart of the US ad industry. By being there, the team gets direct access to agencies, big brands, and top investors.

Kroonenburg drew a clear line between Cuttable now and A Cloud Guru back then: “Cuttable reminds me a lot of where A Cloud Guru was at this stage—a strong product, customers pulling us into new markets, and a team that’s moving fast.”

Furthermore, this move was not a gamble. Half of all new leads already came from the US before the office even opened. Therefore, the expansion was a logical progression. Cuttable is not pushing for America. America is pulling Cuttable in.

Key Lessons From the Cuttable Startup Story

The Cuttable startup story offers clear lessons for any founder. Here are the five most important ones.

1. Solve a real problem first. Cuttable did not guess at a market need. Instead, the team spoke to over 100 e-commerce founders before building. They found that budgets were growing, but access to high-quality creative was nearly zero. So, they built the solution those founders needed most.
2. Put your team first. Sam learned this at A Cloud Guru. Great companies come from outstanding people. So, at Cuttable, hiring well became the top goal from the very start.
3. Think globally from day one. Cuttable launched in Melbourne. But the team always had a global mindset. As a result, expanding to the US felt like the next natural step, not a big leap.
4. Let your results speak. A 13x return on ad spend is not a claim; it is proof. Cuttable built trust by showing real data, not just promises.
5. Move at the right time. AI is now good enough to automate creative work. Cuttable launched right when the timing was perfect. Building at the right moment gives you a giant edge.

Conclusion

The Cuttable startup story is one of the most exciting in recent tech history. In just a few years, three founders turned a simple idea into a $100 million company. They did it by solving a real problem, hiring great people, and proving results fast.

Cuttable AI adtech is changing how brands make ads. It makes the whole process faster, cheaper, and smarter. Small brands can now compete with big ones. And they can do it without spending a fortune on agencies.

As Cuttable grows in the US and adds more brands, the Cuttable $100M valuation may just be the start. Sam said it best: “There has never been a more exciting time to be building with AI.”

So, if you are a founder, marketer, or investor, pay close attention. Cuttable is moving fast. The market is moving with it. And the best of this story may still be ahead.

Ready to learn more? Explore how AI advertising tools can help your brand grow. Think about whether an AI-powered approach to ad creation could save you time and money today.