Melbourne-based Cuttable is building what it calls an "AI creative agency," and has topped up its seed funding with an additional AU$4.5 million, bringing its total seed round to $10 million. The company, which officially launched its platform three weeks ago after a year in development, aims to automate the time-consuming process of creating ad variations for social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

The round was led by existing investor Square Peg, with participation from returning backer Rampersand and new investor Brand Fund, the VC arm of innovation studio Previously Unavailable.

Cuttable was co-founded by Sam Kroonenburg, who previously founded A Cloud Guru and sold it for $2 billion in 2021, alongside Jack White, founder of Sunday Gravy, and Ed Ring, an ex-Swisse marketer.

The startup is betting that growing online businesses, particularly direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, are hamstrung by a lack of resources to produce the high volume of creative assets needed for modern performance marketing.

"These founders are doing everything," said co-founder and CEO Sam Kroonenburg. "Packing orders, managing customer support, building ads at 1am. What they really need is time, clarity, and quality. That's what we give them."

Cuttable claims its platform can generate hundreds of on-brand, performance-ready ads in minutes, a task that would otherwise require significant time or agency spend. "We've been in deep build-mode for the past 12 months, now we are launching Cuttable to help growing brands make ads that drive sales through Facebook and Instagram," Kroonenburg added. "It's a powerful growth lever for businesses. However, those building online brands have had to spend too long doing it themselves, we're changing that."

Prior to its public launch, Cuttable partnered with major Australian brands, including Kogan, Wesfarmers, Medibank, and DiDi during a 2024 research and development phase, creating over 10,000 ads through its early platform.

Pete Chappell, Senior Manager of Digital and Data at one of those new customers, Merry People, explained the core problem the platform helps them solve.

“The fundamental challenge for performance marketers is feeding the hungry algorithm - new, diverse content is its fuel, and it’s thirsty! To keep up, we’re constantly looking for ways to work smarter, and AI plays a big role in that," Chappell said.

Having been part of Cuttable's six-month pilot program, Chappell has seen the platform's direct impact. "Their digital asset management solution is incredibly smart, their grasp of our brand comes through clearly in the copy," he noted, before adding a balanced take on its current capabilities. "...and while their output is currently limited to slightly animated ads leveraging existing imagery, it’s a solid supplement to our ad mix."

Other brands that have recently joined the platform include Frank Body, St. Ali Coffee, Mihan Aromatics, and Hunter Lab.

Josh Mihan, founder of Mihan Aromatics, shared his enthusiasm. "Founders and marketers doing their own ads, that's the future. And that's where Cuttable comes in". He added, "It's like giving your assets steroids. Cuttable is the new ChatGPT for advertising. It's gonna just change the game".

The platform is fully automated and powered by AI trained by senior advertising strategists, with the company stating there are no humans involved in the ad creation process itself. This, the company argues, provides speed and scale at a fraction of traditional costs.

To blend ad-world savvy with tech-world execution, Cuttable has hired a cross-disciplinary team with experience from global ad agencies like McCann, Ogilvy, and TBWA, as well as tech giants such as Atlassian. Recent strategic hires include Paul Arena (ex-Ogilvy) as Head of Strategy and Helen Crossley, former Global Head of Marketing Science at Meta, who joined as an advisor.

"At Meta, I worked with thousands of advertisers globally. For most, creating ads was the biggest barrier to better performance," Crossley commented. "In the AI age of marketing, campaign success depends on volume and variation of ads, and Cuttable makes that possible for growing brands."

The fresh capital is earmarked for global expansion into the U.S., further AI development, and accelerating the onboarding of new e-commerce clients.

For lead investor Square Peg, the startup's early progress and customer feedback justified doubling down on their investment. "We backed Cuttable early because we believed in the team and the opportunity to harness AI to reshape the future of advertising," said Paul Bassat, co-founder and Partner at Square Peg. "A year later, that conviction has only deepened. The Cuttable team has tapped into a core need amongst some of Australia's emerging brands, and the overwhelmingly positive response from their early customers is driving strong momentum."

Kroonenburg noted that this level of financial support is significant in the local market. "This kind of backing at the seed stage is rare in Australia," he said. "It reflects how big this opportunity is, and how strongly investors and customers believe in what we're building."