Sequen is Set to Deliver TikTok-Style Personalization to Every Consumer Company

Sequen, developing dynamic in-session personalization in the post-cookie, privacy-first AI era, led by Zoe Weil, Mo Afshar, Alex Thom, Ethan Benjamin, and the team, has raised $16 million in Series A funding co-led by White Star Capital and Threshold Ventures, with participation from its prior investors, including Greycroft, which had led its seed round. To date, Sequen has raised $22 million.

Sequen CEO Weil explains: “Modern tech no longer just recommends content, it subtly shapes behavior over time, influencing desires. Its precision is such that many suspect platforms might even be listening in on conversations.”

This capability stems from large event models. Unlike large language models, which generalize text, large event models generalize sequences of events and human behavior, unlocking applications far beyond improved recommendation algorithms.

Sequen aims to replace the cookie, a traditional tracking method that personalizes web experiences but raises privacy concerns and regulatory scrutiny.

According to CEO Weil, large event models learn from live user interactions, clicks, scrolls, hovers, conversations, and session activity, rather than static profiles or third-party cookies. This enables real-time personalization even with limited data, unlocking algorithms like TikTok’s for companies lacking the infrastructure to replicate them.

Businesses integrate Sequen via the RankTune platform, accessing frontier and real-time ranking models through APIs, effectively swapping out existing relevance stacks.

Unlike cookies, Sequen’s approach preserves privacy: personalization relies on events, not user identity, and decisions are made in under 20 milliseconds. Weil emphasizes, “The user’s identity is irrelevant; large event models generalize from event streams to understand behavior without needing personal data.”

Sequen’s technology delivers a significant revenue impact while remaining privacy-conscious. A large furniture company achieved a 7% lift after switching to Sequen, compared with 0.4% previously, while Fetch Rewards saw a 20% net revenue increase in just 11 days. Other clients include a streaming media company and an online travel agency.

Pricing is based on requests per second (RPS), with tiers up to 500 or 1,000 RPS and discounts at higher volumes. Early contracts with the first five customers are seven-figure deals, with many opting for the highest tier after seeing initial results.

Founded by Weil, with co-founders Ethan Benjamin, Mo Afshar, and Alexander Thom, and joined by Raphael Louca from Meta as CPO, Sequen has processed around 10 billion monthly requests in under 18 months. The 14-person New York team draws talent from DeepMind, Meta, Anthropic, and other leading tech organizations, building proprietary large event models, ranking algorithms, and other core technology to generate measurable business value.