Firsthand

Firsthand builds the Firsthand Brand Agent Platform, which lets brands deploy AI-powered Brand Agents that deliver their own expertise to consumers in real time. Its Lakebed module manages data and knowledge rights, defining what Brand Agents can access and how shared data is used.

Customers are marketers and publishers. Marketers use Brand Agents to share brand information, route consumers to relevant pages, generate leads and gain persona-level customer insights, with campaigns running on their own sites or across partner publisher sites. Publishers use them to offer AI-powered ad solutions integrated with their properties, convert readers into subscribers and surface sponsored products within content.

The company was founded and is led by co-CEOs Jonathan Heller and Michael Rubenstein, with Wei Wei as CTO. The leadership team's background includes programmatic and streaming TV advertising at DoubleClick, AppNexus and FreeWheel. Investors listed include Radical Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Aperiam and Crossbeam Venture Partners. It is based in New York City, works in a hybrid model, and currently lists open roles for a Senior Account Executive and a Staff Product Manager, AI/ML, both in New York.

Product: Firsthand Brand Agent Platform: AI Brand Agents for brand websites, paid media and publisher sites, with the Lakebed data rights management solution.