Israeli AI startup Limey raises $10 million to help brands navigate the 'agentic web'

An Israeli startup founded by veterans of the country's elite special operations units has raised $10 million to develop technology for what it describes as the next evolution of the internet: the "agentic web," where artificial intelligence systems—not humans—make purchasing and information decisions on users' behalf.

Speaking to i24NEWS, Limey co-founder and CEO Aviv Shamny said the company is building tools to help businesses adapt to a rapidly changing online landscape, as AI-powered assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude increasingly determine what products, services and information users see.

"Think of the web that we all use today as a web that's controlled by humans," Shamny said. "We decide what websites to visit and what products to click on. But when you're using AI tools like Perplexity, Gemini or Claude, you're activating agents that browse and make decisions on your behalf."

According to Shamny, this marks a fundamental shift in how people interact with the internet.

Limey's platform is designed to help brands ensure their digital content—including websites, Reddit discussions and other online sources—is recognized by AI search engines as authoritative and relevant. The goal is to improve the likelihood that AI assistants recommend their products when responding to user queries.

"If someone asks for the best running shoe, we make sure our customers show up," he explained.

Shamny argued that companies will increasingly need to market not only to consumers but also to AI systems that influence consumer decisions.

"There's a new layer on the internet now," he said. "Up until now, brands like Nike communicated directly with consumers. Today, AI agents are deciding whether to surface Nike, Saucony or Asics. It's a whole new shift in consumer behavior and in how brands need to market."

The newly raised funding will primarily be used to expand Limey's engineering team and develop technology capable of understanding how AI models interpret and rank information.

"Our focus is building the foundational technology to understand how AI agents perceive information," Shamny said. "That's where we're investing the capital."

As AI-powered search and recommendation tools become increasingly central to how people discover products and services, startups like Limey are betting that optimizing for AI agents could become as important as traditional search engine optimization has been over the past two decades.