Ethosphere Secures $2.5 Million for AI-Powered In-Store Insights

Ethosphere, a voice AI for retail operations led by Ahad Rana and Evan Smith, has raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding, led by Point72 Ventures, with participation from AI2 Incubator, Carya Ventures, Pack VC, Hike Ventures, and J4 Ventures.

The funding will help Ethosphere scale pilots with major retailers, tackling the critical need to better support in-store associates and elevate customer interactions.

Ethosphere uses LLMs and voice AI to turn in-store interaction data into coaching insights for frontline associates, delivering actionable guidance while preserving the human-to-human connections at the core of retail. The company already partners with leading global retail brands.  

Founded in 2024 by Evan Smith (CEO) and Ahad Rana (CTO), Ethosphere blends retail strategy with deep tech expertise. Smith, a former Starbucks executive with a background in education and public affairs, brings operational and human-centric leadership, while Rana, with engineering roles at AOL, Google, and AWS, contributes extensive experience in AI, emerging technologies, and user experience. Headquartered in Seattle, Ethosphere draws on the city’s vibrant startup ecosystem and talent pool.