PulseAd Aims to Capture Retail Media Market with New All-in-One Ad Platform.

- PulseAd, a retail media solutions provider, aims to streamline e-commerce 
  advertising with its integrated platform, helping retail brands manage 
  campaigns across giants like Amazon and Walmart.
- Leveraging Amazon's vast advertising and e-commerce operational data, 
  PulseAd enhances this advantage with AI and machine learning to provide 
  real-time bidding, automated campaign optimization, and instant analytics 
  reports.
- The company is also developing 'PulsyAI,' a sophisticated solution designed to 
  analyze and propose ad campaign strategies, which has already gained 
  international recognition.


PulseAd, a retail media solutions provider, is poised to streamline the complexities of e-commerce advertising with its integrated platform. By offering a unified solution to manage campaigns across giants like Amazon and Walmart, the company is helping retail brands accelerate their sales growth in a fragmented digital landscape.

As South Korea's only certified Amazon tech partner, PulseAd leverages Amazon's vast advertising and e-commerce operational data. The company enhances this advantage with AI and machine learning to provide real-time bidding, automated campaign optimization, and instant analytics reports, significantly boosting operational efficiency for its clients. PulseAd is currently collaborating with a range of companies, with a strong focus on K-beauty, home appliances, and food brands.

The company is also developing ‘PulsyAI,’ a sophisticated solution designed to analyze and propose ad campaign strategies. This innovation has already gained international recognition, being named a finalist in the Tech Innovation Challenge at the Amazon Ads Developer Summit 2025 this past August.

We sat down with PulseAd's CEO, David Yun, and CTO, Kyle Choi, to discuss the company's vision for its integrated e-commerce advertising platform.

David Yun, CEO of PulseAd(left), Kyle Choi, CTO of PulseAd(right) / source=IT dongA

Seizing an Opportunity in the Retail Media Boom

The leadership behind PulseAd brings a wealth of experience from the front lines of the tech and e-commerce industries.

"I started a mobile app advertising platform back in 2014 and later oversaw programmatic advertising at IGAWorks and managed Asia-Pacific (APAC) operations for the North American ad analytics solution Branch," said Yun. "After that, I joined the style-commerce platform Zigzag, where I led the business organization through its merger and acquisition by Kakao Style, managing over $ 720 million in annual revenue. It was that experience that led me to start PulseAd in March 2024."

Choi’s technical background is equally extensive. "It's been 26 years since I took a leave of absence from college because I loved programming," Choi said. "I've worked at companies like Emation, Neowiz, Tmax, Krafton, and Zigbang, and most recently, I was at the web novel platform Radish during its acquisition by Kakao Entertainment. I also founded two startups along the way. My expertise is in backend and data engineering."

The idea for PulseAd came from Yun’s keen observation of market trends. "I was contemplating my next move when I came across Amazon's advertising system and was struck by its rapid evolution," Yun explained. "I realized this trend was remarkably similar to the mobile advertising market a decade ago."

"The ad market is now being reshaped around e-commerce, with platforms like Amazon and Walmart becoming massive global advertising venues. Brands no longer sell on a single channel; they use dozens, across multiple countries," he continued. "This mirrors the early days of mobile, where the proliferation of apps created a need for solutions to manage ads across all of them. The companies that provided those solutions grew immensely. With my experience, I was confident I could apply those lessons to the burgeoning retail media market and create a new opportunity."

Choi joined as a founding member after being contacted by Yun through social media. "I initially turned down the offer because I knew nothing about the advertising market," Choi admitted. "But after listening to Yoonsung and researching the industry, I saw a viable opportunity. I realized there was so much room for technical improvement and automation, and the right product could be incredibly helpful to businesses. So, I decided to join."

The Power of Integrated E-Commerce Advertising

"PulseAd is a global retail media solution that supports the sales growth of retail brands," Yun stated. The company's name, PulseAd, reflects its core mission. "Advertising requires collaboration with various tech partners and runs 24/7, much like a heart that never stops pumping blood through every vessel. We wanted to build an engine that is intricately connected to our clients and continuously drives their success."

A key distinction for PulseAd is its status as an Amazon tech partner. "Amazon certifies partners who can effectively use its data to create new value. While they have partners in logistics, creative, and e-commerce operations, we are the only one in Korea certified for AdTech and as a Tool Provider," said Yun.

Securing the partnership was a challenge. "After applying, I just started messaging Amazon partner managers on social media. I eventually connected with an APAC partnership manager in China, which led to a tech demo that secured our certification," Yun recalled. "That allowed us to build our network with the Amazon team at U.S. events and rapidly advance our product."

This partnership grants PulseAd access to nearly all of Amazon's advertising data, which is essential for accurate AI analysis. "No matter how good the AI model is, its performance will suffer without sufficient, high-quality data," Yun noted. "We leverage this deep data pool and the technology to apply it effectively, maximizing campaign efficiency for our clients."

Choi added that few companies have achieved this. "Amazon's data is incredibly vast and difficult to collect and aggregate. We invested heavily to establish an early-mover advantage and were able to build our platform quickly. Globally, I believe fewer than 50 companies have built a platform like ours."

PulseAd’s Integrated E-Commerce Advertising Solution dashboard / source=PulseAd

The platform supports businesses on global e-commerce sites by allowing them to manage all their ads in one place. "We are currently focused on Amazon because of strong customer demand," said Yun. "Many of our clients were already advertising on TikTok, Google, and Meta to drive traffic to their Amazon stores. So we built a solution that integrates external media data from these platforms, allowing clients to manage everything at once. We are consistently seeing improved ad performance and more efficient budget allocation." The company is also preparing to integrate with other major U.S. retailers like Walmart and Target as it expands its U.S. operations.

PulsyAI: Enhancing Marketer Efficiency

PulseAd is developing a new AI solution, PulsyAI, to further empower marketers. "PulsyAI analyzes internal and external data—including market trends and business reports—to recommend optimal ad campaigns," explained Choi. "It helps marketers with data collection and analysis, measures the revenue attribution of campaigns, and includes reporting and team-sharing functions. It's like having an expert campaign strategist on your team."

The ultimate vision is a fully automated system. "We plan to evolve it into a system that independently analyzes data, generates and applies appropriate campaigns, measures performance, and then reapplies improved versions without marketer intervention."

PulsyAI is scheduled to begin a closed beta test with select clients in September, with a gradual expansion to follow. The solution was recently a finalist out of more than 50 global companies in the Tech Innovation Challenge at the Amazon Ads Developer Summit 2025.

PulsyAI analyzes advertising campaign strategies and provides recommendations for optimization / source=PulseAd

A Global Vision from Day One

"We targeted the global market from the beginning, especially the U.S.," said Yun. "Trends in Asia tend to lag behind the U.S. by about three to four years. We believe that by first challenging ourselves in the U.S. market to perfect our technology and build a strong client portfolio, we will be better positioned to lead the Asian market later."

PulseAd established a U.S. branch in May, and Yun is currently based in Seattle to personally lead sales efforts, having already signed several contracts. The company is also strengthening partnerships with other e-commerce players like Walmart.

The company is also part of the AWS Jungle Program, a global corporate collaboration initiative supported by the Seoul National University of Science and Technology (SeoulTech). "Through the program, we visited the AWS headquarters in the U.S. this past May for training on SaaS business strategy," Yun said. "We also participated in meetings with major VCs and educational sessions. The practical, concrete case studies and networking opportunities have been incredibly helpful."

Looking ahead, Yun is focused on growth. "Our top priority right now is ad performance optimization. I'm confident that if we successfully establish our solution and create numerous success stories, we will grow significantly in this market," he said. "AI won't just improve ad performance; it will completely change the way marketers and brands work. With PulsyAI, we want to help improve the entire marketing workflow. The retail media market is still in its early days and will continue to climb for the next decade. Based on our technological capabilities connecting e-commerce and advertising, we aim to become a globally recognized leader."

By Man-hyuk Han (mh@itdonga.com)

* This article was written with support from Seoul National University of Science and Technology.