---
title: "AdSense for AI"
description: "Theory Ventures leads Koah's $20.5M Series A to build the monetization layer for AI applications. Every interface shift finds its answer in advertising."
categories: ["AI","advertising"]
keywords: ["AI advertising","Koah","Theory Ventures","LLM monetization","AI apps","conversational ads","native advertising"]
date: 2026-02-24
lastmod: 2026-07-21
canonical_url: https://www.tomtunguz.com/koah-theory/
author: "Tomasz Tunguz"
---


Every major interface shift finds its answer to meeting the needs of a massive audience in advertising : TV, web, mobile, streaming. Each is a hundreds-of-billions-of-dollars market. AI will be no different.

Today we announced Theory Ventures is leading [Koah's $20.5M Series A](https://www.koahlabs.com/blog/theory-ventures-partnership?source=theory), with participation from our friends at Forerunner & South Park Commons.

Koah is building the monetization layer for AI applications. As [AI search reaches its tipping point](https://tomtunguz.com/search-patterns-2025/), assistants are becoming the primary source of information for many decisions. But AI apps face mounting pressure to monetize without compromising user experience.

{{< email_image src="ztv58ykwlohlq5py1ffv" alt="Koah AI advertising platform" width="540" height="360" >}}

AI advertising operates differently than search or social. Inside a conversation, Koah's system processes the full semantic context of a query in real time.

When a user asks an assistant "I'm training for a marathon and my knees hurt, should I switch to minimalist shoes or get more cushioning?", the system understands intent, constraint, & decision stage simultaneously. The ad that surfaces isn't matched to a keyword or a profile. It's matched to a specific moment in a purchase decision.

Or consider a developer asking "I'm building an agentic app that needs to store conversation history & vector embeddings. Which database should I use?" Only within agentic coding can a vendor be there precisely at the right moment. An agentic app builder can provide inference offset by ads.

The result : 7.5% average click-through rates. That's 4-5x the display advertising baseline.

Over the past 12 months, Koah has processed more than 170 million queries & 35 million native ad impressions. Publishers using Koah's native formats saw 122% higher click-through rates than their previous display implementations. [Liner](https://liner.com/) grew DAU 454% while monetizing with Koah. Growth & revenue moving together, not against each other. Retention remained near 100% in live chat environments.

Luke Kim, CEO of Liner, put it well :

> "Since adopting Koah's ad formats, we've consistently increased CTR & coverage, without eroding any of the trust at the core of our product."

The Koah team came through South Park Commons. All three founders, [Nic Baird](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicbaird/), [Mike Choi](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikejschoi/), & [Herrick Fang](https://www.linkedin.com/in/herrickfang/), were Founder Fellows. Before Koah, they overlapped at three companies : Affirm, Supermove, & Qualified.

This category will define the next decade of the internet. We're thrilled to partner with Nic & the Koah team powering AI for millions.

If you'd like to get started with your AI app, [sign up here](https://app.koah.ai/access?source=theory).