BY Venture Partners Backs ChatFeatured in US$2M Round to Scale AI Search Optimisation

ChatFeatured founding team: Nithiiyan Skhanthan, Farris Nasr, and Ryan Nahas

As AI-powered search rapidly reshapes how consumers discover information online, investors are increasingly backing startups building the infrastructure behind this new discovery economy. Abu Dhabi-based BY Venture Partners has joined an oversubscribed US$2 million pre-Seed funding round for Canadian AI startup ChatFeatured, supporting the company's ambition to help brands improve their visibility across AI-generated search results.

The funding round was led by Storytime Capital, with participation from Garage Capital and BY Venture Partners. The capital will support product development, international expansion, and commercial growth as enterprises increasingly prioritize Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) alongside traditional SEO.

Founded in 2026 by Farris Nasr and Nithiiyan Skhanthan, ChatFeatured has developed an AEO platform that enables marketing teams to understand how their brands appear in AI-generated responses across leading platforms, including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.

The company's software identifies visibility gaps, recommends content improvements, and automates content creation and publishing, enabling businesses to increase AI citations, improve referral traffic, and strengthen brand discoverability within conversational AI experiences.

Why Are Investors Backing AI Search Optimisation Startups?

The emergence of generative AI has fundamentally changed digital discovery. Instead of relying solely on traditional search engine rankings, users increasingly receive direct answers generated by large language models (LLMs), creating demand for new optimisation strategies focused on AI-generated responses.

According to ChatFeatured, the company has:

• Expanded into five countries within six months of launch.
• Achieved more than 40% month-on-month growth.
• Built automation tools that continuously monitor AI visibility across multiple answer engines.
• Developed AI workflows that generate and publish optimisation-ready content automatically.

The latest investment will be used to:

• Expand the company's engineering and commercial teams.
• Accelerate go-to-market activities.
• Develop autonomous AI search agents capable of identifying optimisation opportunities and executing improvements without manual intervention.

How Does ChatFeatured's Answer Engine Optimisation Platform Work?

Unlike conventional SEO tools that primarily monitor rankings on search engines, ChatFeatured focuses on visibility inside AI-generated answers.

Feature	Business Benefit
AI visibility monitoring	Tracks brand mentions across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity
Content recommendations	Identifies missing topics and authority gaps
Automated content generation	Creates AI-friendly content designed to improve citation rates
Automated publishing	Speeds execution of optimisation strategies
AI search agents	Continuously identify and implement optimisation opportunities

The platform aims to help marketing teams adapt to the growing shift toward conversational search, where AI assistants increasingly influence purchasing decisions and online discovery.

What Does This Investment Mean for BY Venture Partners?

For BY Venture Partners, the investment aligns with its strategy of supporting globally scalable artificial intelligence companies while connecting international founders with capital, strategic partnerships, and commercial opportunities across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The investment also reinforces Abu Dhabi's growing position as a regional AI investment hub, alongside innovation ecosystems such as Hub71, ADGM, MGX, and the UAE's broader national AI strategy. As governments across the Gulf—including initiatives in NEOM and Saudi Arabia's AI ecosystem—continue investing in advanced technologies, venture firms are increasingly targeting startups building foundational infrastructure for the AI economy.

Why Is the AI Search Economy Becoming a Major Investment Theme?

Generative AI is rapidly changing how information is consumed. Instead of browsing multiple websites, users increasingly rely on AI assistants to synthesize answers from trusted sources.

This shift is creating demand for companies that help brands optimize content specifically for AI-generated responses—a discipline widely referred to as Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO).

As AI search adoption accelerates throughout 2026, investors are increasingly viewing AEO infrastructure as a high-growth software category, complementing traditional SEO tools and marketing automation platforms. ChatFeatured's latest funding reflects growing confidence that businesses will require dedicated technologies to remain visible in an AI-first internet.

 

 

FAQs

1. What is ChatFeatured?
ChatFeatured is a Canadian startup founded in 2026 that provides an Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) platform helping brands improve visibility across AI-powered search platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.

2. What is Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)?
Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is the practice of optimizing digital content so it is more likely to be cited and surfaced in responses generated by AI assistants and large language models, complementing traditional search engine optimization (SEO).

3. Who invested in ChatFeatured?
ChatFeatured raised an oversubscribed US$2 million pre-Seed round led by Storytime Capital, with participation from Garage Capital and Abu Dhabi-based BY Venture Partners.

4. Why is BY Venture Partners investing in AI startups?
BY Venture Partners focuses on globally scalable AI companies while helping founders expand into MENA through strategic capital, expertise, and regional networks.

5. Why is AI search becoming important for marketers?
As users increasingly rely on AI assistants instead of traditional search engines, marketers need new strategies to improve brand visibility within AI-generated answers, making AEO an increasingly important component of digital marketing.