Consolidation in the retail media tech sector continues apace, with Kevel, a leading provider of API-based retail media ad serving technology, buying Nexta, an automated advertising self-serve platform, adding much-needed self-service capabilities to Kevel’s platform. It also helps brands leverage not just onsite ad formats, but also audience building tools.
Kevel’s toolkit allows retailers to build state-of-the-art retail media platforms in-house, enabling them to take control of their retail media offering. By contrast, Nexta’s AI-driven ad manager simplifies the advertising experience and enhances efficiency with booking-optimised self-service for retailers, marketplaces and publishers.
By integrating Nexta’s powerful technology into Kevel’s product – The Retail Media Cloud – Kevel now offers a full-stack solution for high-performing retail media networks, optimizing operations, improving ad personalization, and enabling seamless efficiency with unmatched customization.
“This acquisition reinforces Kevel’s commitment to transforming the retail media landscape by encouraging retailers to launch custom retail media programs that drive marketplace revenue,” says James Avery, CEO, Kevel. “Nexta is an industry leader in AI-driven omni-channel advertising who share our ethos to take back the internet, make advertising accessible for everyone, and support advertisers of all shapes and sizes on a level playing field. We’re extremely excited to bring the team into the Kevel fold, as we continue to advance the industry and keep pace with demand by offering an all-encompassing retail media solution for our customers.”
Martin Jensen, Founder and Chairman of the Board at Nexta, adds: “This merger is more than just a strategic move — it’s a match made in heaven. Kevel brings global market reach, a shared culture of innovation, and a strong, complementary product offering to the table. Together, we’re not just growing, we’re building something extraordinary. By combining forces, Nexta and Kevel are uniquely positioned to create a game-changing solution in the retail media space.”
The global retail media market is growing at unprecedented pace, with investment predicted to increase to nearly $170bn in 2025, according to WARC’s latest forecast. Retailers are increasingly transitioning to media owners and publishers, seeing the potential to unlock new revenue opportunities while also realizing the unique opportunity to leverage robust first-party data and closed-loop attribution, enabling them to engage with customers in a way that hasn’t traditionally been possible.
“At Nexta, our focus has been solely on simplifying and improving the ad experience for retailers, marketplaces and publishers through intelligent self-serve automation and AI-driven insights,” says Jesper Urban, CEO at Nexta. “Our unwavering commitment to making advertising accessible, measurable, and scalable to all advertisers is synonymous with Kevel’s vision and we’re extremely excited to marry our tech with Kevel’s market-leading retail media solution to transform and drive the retail media space forward.”
Puja Rios, COO at Kevel sats, “We work with global retailers and therefore know how important it is for them to have an API-led solution that puts them in full control, with dedicated UIs for their own teams as well as their advertisers, and the ability to execute on-site, off-site and even in-store ad formats all within a single platform. We’re looking forward to extending this to our current customers, as well as retailers considering upgrading their technology.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Kevel will integrate all Nexta product offerings into its existing retail media solution to create a unified, fully customizable, data-driven, automated platform, ensuring retailers can continue to meet the growing demand for high-performing retail media networks.
