Pie Secures Amex Ventures Investment to Expand AI Growth Platform for Small Businesses — AI-powered customer acquisition startup Pie has received a strategic investment from Amex Ventures, the venture capital arm of American Express, as the company looks to expand its AI-driven growth platform for small businesses. The funding follows Pie’s recent emergence from stealth mode and its $19.5 million Series A financing, reinforcing investor confidence in AI-powered local business marketing and customer acquisition.

Pie, an AI-powered growth platform designed for small businesses, has announced a new strategic investment from Amex Ventures, strengthening its efforts to help local businesses improve customer acquisition across AI-powered search platforms and digital discovery channels.

The announcement follows Pie’s public debut in June and comes shortly after the company closed a $19.5 million Series A funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Capital One Ventures, SciFi VC, F-Prime, Commerce Ventures, WEX Venture Capital, and existing investors.

The latest investment highlights growing interest in AI platforms that simplify digital marketing for small businesses, many of which struggle to manage customer acquisition across an expanding ecosystem of search engines, local listings, review platforms, and AI assistants.

Pie positions itself as an end-to-end AI growth platform that connects business discovery with measurable revenue outcomes rather than simply providing marketing analytics. The company says many small businesses lack the time, technical expertise, or marketing resources needed to maintain visibility across today’s increasingly fragmented digital landscape.

The platform is built around three primary capabilities that automate different stages of customer acquisition.

AI Search helps businesses improve visibility as customer discovery increasingly shifts toward AI-powered search experiences such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. Rather than focusing solely on traditional search engine optimization (SEO), the feature aims to improve how businesses appear within generative AI responses and conversational search environments.

The second offering, Growth, helps businesses acquire customers through high-intent local discovery platforms including Google Maps, Yelp, and Nextdoor. These channels remain critical for local service providers that depend on nearby customers actively searching for businesses.

Completing the platform is Front Desk, an AI voice agent capable of answering phone calls, responding to customer inquiries, and managing appointment bookings. The feature is designed to reduce missed opportunities for businesses that may not have dedicated staff available to answer incoming calls throughout the day.

Unlike traditional marketing software that primarily reports campaign metrics, Pie focuses on connecting customer acquisition efforts directly to measurable business outcomes such as phone calls, bookings, and revenue generation.

The company’s go-to-market strategy centers on partnerships with industry-specific software providers already serving small business customers. One example is its recently announced partnership with MoeGo, a software platform used by more than 10,000 pet care businesses.

Through the integration, MoeGo customers gain access to Pie’s AI-powered customer acquisition capabilities within their existing operational software. According to the companies, participating businesses generated an average 15x return on advertising spend during the initial rollout, providing early validation of the platform’s effectiveness in local customer acquisition.

Pie reports that its broader customer base spans industries including automotive repair, pet care, fitness, and beauty services. During its stealth phase, the company says it supported thousands of small businesses, generated more than 100,000 phone calls for customers, and helped many businesses achieve 15% to 20% year-over-year sales growth.

The company was founded in 2025 by Syed Ali and Akhil Mantripragada, both former members of Toast’s New Ventures team. Their experience developing restaurant technology products—including Toast’s first AI-powered benchmarking solution—provided the foundation for Pie’s revenue-focused approach to AI-powered business growth.

The announcement also reflects broader trends across the sales and customer engagement technology market. As generative AI changes how consumers discover local businesses, vendors are increasingly developing solutions that optimize visibility beyond traditional search engines. Businesses are now seeking tools that can improve discoverability not only on Google but also within conversational AI platforms that are becoming part of everyday purchasing journeys.

Industry analysts continue to highlight AI as a key driver of digital sales transformation. According to McKinsey & Company, generative AI has the potential to significantly improve marketing and sales productivity by automating customer engagement and enhancing personalization. Meanwhile, Gartner projects continued enterprise investment in AI-powered customer experience technologies as organizations prioritize automation and data-driven growth strategies.

For small businesses, platforms like Pie represent an emerging category of AI-powered growth technology that combines local search optimization, customer engagement, and revenue attribution into a unified platform. As AI-powered discovery continues reshaping how consumers find products and services, solutions that connect visibility directly to measurable business outcomes are likely to become increasingly valuable for organizations seeking sustainable growth.

Top Insights

  • Pie has secured strategic investment from Amex Ventures to accelerate its AI-powered customer acquisition platform for small businesses following its recent $19.5 million Series A funding.
  • The platform combines AI search optimization, local customer acquisition, and AI voice automation to help businesses generate measurable revenue instead of focusing solely on marketing metrics.
  • Pie optimizes business visibility across emerging AI search platforms including ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity alongside traditional local discovery channels like Google Maps and Yelp.
  • Through its partnership with MoeGo, participating pet care businesses reported an average 15x return on ad spend during the initial rollout of Pie’s growth platform.
  • The investment highlights increasing demand for AI-powered sales and customer engagement technologies designed specifically for resource-constrained small businesses.

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