Jessica Herrin’s jewelry hustle on the side at Dell, tested on Austin evenings and weekends two decades ago, became Stella and Dot, which moved over $2 billion in product through independent sellers. Now she is building Marklo, and it has closed $5 million in seed funding.
Forerunner took the lead investor spot. Freestyle Capital joined, alongside angel checks from ex-Klaviyo and current Shopify leaders. The Burlingame, California company was founded in 2025.
Sales data, inventory records and past marketing activity flow in from Shopify, Klaviyo, Attentive, Meta and Google. Marklo arranges prior launches, promotions and revenue into a calendar so teams can see whether a paid-ad spike aligned with a product drop or a viral social post, context that disappears when services are reviewed in isolation. It flags which campaigns drove transactions, recommends next targets, and drafts briefs plus task lists with AI. Competitor promotions, social trends, available stock and calendar timing all factor in.
Over 100 brands ran pilots, including Away, Clare V., Monica and Andy, Maya Brenner and Latico Leathers, though revenue has not started. Access goes public before the holiday season. The round will fund engineering hires, product development and expanded customer support; the 11-person team includes ex-Shopify and ex-Google talent. A Fourth of July sale might look like a winner to other AI tools even when inventory is gone, a frustration Herrin described. Marklo once identified a trending color on social media plus a retailer’s matching handbag that sat in stock unpromoted, then offered to plan a post modeled on an earlier success. One brand compressed a month’s marketing into one day, down from a week of meetings, spreadsheets and five tools. Humans approve all output, customer data stays out of training, and subscription plus usage fees are planned, though installs remain free for now.
