E-commerce brands today face an increasingly complex landscape of rising customer acquisition costs, evolving privacy regulations, and fragmented marketing technology stacks. Chord Commerce is on a mission to solve these challenges by providing a unified, AI-powered solution that turns first-party data into actionable insights. By enabling brands to consolidate their data infrastructure, enhance predictive analytics, and automate marketing execution, Chord is redefining how modern commerce operates.
At Act One Ventures, we invest in founders who have the vision, experience, and resilience to build category-defining companies. When we met Bryan Mahoney and the team at Chord, it was immediately clear that they had both the technical expertise and strategic insight to lead this transformation. After joining their seed round led by M13, we are excited to partner with Chord on this journey.
The founder: Deep expertise meets proven execution
Bryan Mahoney has spent his entire career at the intersection of e-commerce and data-driven marketing. From co-founding Dynamo, which was later acquired by Glossier, to serving as Glossier’s CTO and leading its data-driven commerce stack, Bryan has built infrastructure that fuels brand growth. His latest venture, Chord, is a natural evolution of his work: leveraging AI and first-party data to give e-commerce brands a smarter way to orchestrate their marketing and customer insights.
One of the key reasons we invested in Chord was Bryan’s ability to adapt and lead through challenges. He recognized early that the original headless commerce model needed to evolve and executed a strategic pivot to focus on data and AI-powered automation. His ability to execute, learn from setbacks, and drive forward with a clear vision underscores his commitment to making Chord a category-defining company.
The business: A critical solution for modern e-commerce
The landscape for e-commerce brands is shifting rapidly, and Chord sits at the center of this transformation.
Chord’s data platform unifies, enriches, and activates first-party data in a way that eliminates fragmentation across marketing stacks. The company’s ability to replace multiple tools with a single, high-ROI platform has already attracted customers like Sonos, Ruggable, and Sakara. Chord isn’t just another CDP — it’s a command center for modern commerce infrastructure.
Why now?
We are at an inflection point where AI-driven automation and data intelligence are no longer optional. As brands seek ways to improve marketing efficiency and maximize their data without massive engineering teams, Chord provides a seamless solution. The company’s ability to embed itself as the source of truth for first-party data makes it not just valuable, but indispensable.
Chord Commerce is solving a critical problem at exactly the right time, with the right team in place. We are thrilled to be part of their journey and look forward to helping them scale into a market leader.
