Why BGV backed firmly, and why we believe the merchant side of agentic commerce is where value gets built

Congratulations to Kumar Senthil, Damien Balsan and the Firmly team on closing a $15M Series A led by Squarepoint Capital, with strategic participation from J.P. Morgan Payments, Mastercard and Samsung NEXT.

Shopping is moving out of the browser tab and into AI assistants, publishers, social platforms and every surface where consumers show intent. Most of the attention has gone to the agents themselves. But agents cannot transact at scale without the merchant infrastructure behind them. How do millions of merchants make their catalogs, live pricing, inventory and checkout available across all these channels, without rebuilding their stack each time a new one appears? Firmly's answer is a "𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲" principle: merchants can adopt new shopping experiences without re platforming.

Our agentic commerce thesis rests on three convictions:

1️⃣ 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲. Discovery without reliable, real-time checkout is a dead end. The infrastructure that turns intent into a transaction will capture lasting value.

2️⃣ 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘆. New AI shopping channels are emerging every month. A no-code layer that connects merchants once and makes them shoppable everywhere removes the integration burden that slows adoption.

3️⃣ 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀. Agent-initiated purchases raise new questions about authentication, fraud and settlement. Platforms built alongside payment networks and banks have a structural advantage.

Firmly fits all three.

𝗔 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. Co-founder and CEO Kumar Senthil is an e-commerce veteran who has run one of the world's largest consumer electronics storefronts.

Co-founder Damien Balsan brings nearly 30 years of fintech and payments experience. He was part of LoopPay, acquired by Samsung to create Samsung Pay. and has been involved in exits to Ingenico (ROAM) and Apple (Mobeewave).

𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹. firmly's network already connects AI assistants and other channels to more than 11 million merchants representing over $900B in GMV.

Mastercard is both an investor and a commercial partner, working with firmly to make merchant catalogs and checkout available through Mastercard Agent Connect. This is a clear signal that the largest payments players see the merchant infrastructure layer as strategic.

Agentic commerce will not be won by whoever builds the smartest shopping bot. It will be won by whoever makes buying from any merchant, on any surface, simple and trustworthy. We believe firmly is building that layer.