Ex-Spotify engineers launch Malachyte, AI-powered e-commerce recommendation platform, raising $10M seed funding

Three former Spotify employees—Sidd Motwani, Ian Anderson, and Shivaditya Sinha—have launched Malachyte, a startup applying AI-driven recommendation technology to online retail. The company raised $10 million in seed funding from Bessemer Venture Partners and Gradient, with participation from Harpoon Ventures. Malachyte uses a two-headed Vector AI system to provide real-time, intent-aware shopping experiences that adapt based on customer behavior during a single session, even for first-time visitors. The platform went live with Fun.com in fall 2025 and became available to Shopify merchants via native integration in June 2026. The founders argue that most e-commerce platforms fail to leverage real-time behavioral signals and contextual information to personalize customer experiences effectively.