StellaNordis turns the physical sales floor into a measurable, programmatically biddable service and advertising channel on AI glasses. In-store navigation, an XR ad server and loyalty in a single, hardware-agnostic platform.
Audio first on today’s AI glasses and headphones, display next.
Your personal shopping assistant in AI glasses. Hands-free, by voice and in view. It speaks through today’s AI glasses and headphones. On display glasses, the same steps appear as cards in view.
In view · display glasses
YOUR STOREYou say
Tell your assistant
“I need oat milk, tomatoes and butter.”
01
Speak your list
Just say what you need. Your agent builds the shopping list.
In ear · AI glasses and headphones“Oat milk, tomatoes and butter are on your list.”
In view · display glasses
YOUR STOREStop 2 of 4
Dairy
Past the counter, then left
Oat milk · chilled shelf, top row
02
Find every item
Guided to the right shelf by the shortest route through the store.
In ear · AI glasses and headphones“Dairy is next. Go past the counter, then turn left.”
In view · display glasses
YOUR STOREAD
Matches “yoghurt” on your list
Natural yoghurt, 500 g
40 cents off with coupon
Save couponNo thanks
03
Offers at the shelf
Matching deals and coupons, right where you decide. Sponsored hints are always labelled.
In ear · AI glasses and headphones“There is a coupon for natural yoghurt, 40 cents off. Shall I save it?”
Privacy by design. The assistant is strictly opt-in, and no images are stored.
The platform
One platform, three layers.
StellaNordis is a software platform organised in three layers that build on one another. Instead of laying ads over reality, it inserts useful content into the moment of decision: at the shelf, hands-free and fully measurable. The stack is hardware-agnostic. It speaks on today’s AI glasses and headphones, shows cards on display glasses and stays open to future device classes through an OpenXR bracket.
01
XR Indoor Navigation
A voice assistant for the store: shoppers speak their list, are guided to the right shelf and ask questions about products on the spot. On display glasses, the same guidance appears as cards in view. Built on licensed indoor localisation plus our own zone logic.
02
XR Ad Server
Auction and delivery logic for advertising at the shelf, spoken as a labelled hint in ear or shown as a card in view. Direct-sold deals first, then programmatic demand connected to existing SSP/DSP systems via an OpenRTB-compatible interface.
03
Loyalty & Gamification
The store session becomes a game mechanic with points, quests and streaks, refinanced through brand sponsoring and coupled to the retailer's existing loyalty programme. A service, not an interruption.
Inside the XR ad server
sub-100 ms auction
From a contextual bid request to a delivered sponsored detour: direct deals are matched first, then open programmatic demand competes across connected DSPs. The winning offer reaches the shopper's wallet in under 100 milliseconds.
Why it works
Value for all three sides at once.
The platform creates value simultaneously for the demand side, the inventory owner and the shopper — which is what makes the model defensible.
For brands
Measurable shelf moments
For the first time, CPG/FMCG brands get measurable, programmatically biddable visibility at the point of sale — exactly where the purchase decision is made — with closed-loop attribution.
For retailers
A new, high-margin asset
Retail chains unlock a new high-margin revenue stream from their own floor space, with no development burden. The store becomes monetisable media inventory.
For shoppers
Genuine shopping help
Wayfinding, product comparison and personalised coupons instead of advertising interruption — value the shopper actually keeps the glasses on for.
Timing
The window is opening now.
Online retail media is long established. The store remains the largest and least digitally monetised inventory there is. Three forces make this the moment to move.
Hardware is here
Meta sold more than 7 million AI glasses in 2025. With Meta’s Device Access Toolkit 1.0, released in September 2026, developers get a stable way to build for them, with and without display. Android XR glasses from Google and Samsung follow.
Standards are taking shape
IAB Europe’s In-Store Retail Media Definitions and Measurement Standards are in their second version, open for public comment in autumn 2026. Buyers get a common framework to trust and compare in-store impressions.
The gap is offline
FMCG and drugstore first: high footfall, existing ESL infrastructure and established loyalty programmes make the grocery floor the ideal entry point.
Where we are
A working prototype, on the glasses today.
The platform is past the concept stage. Our prototype covers the shopper experience and the media side, and you can see it in action.
Concept demo · 52 s
What runs today
Shopping agent on display glasses
Audio client for AI glasses and headphones
Campaign cockpit for retailers and brands
Ad server prototype with decisioning studio
Working demos run on Meta Ray-Ban Display and, as audio, on Ray-Ban Meta.
Retail media is one of the fastest-growing categories in advertising. In-store is the next frontier. AI glasses already in the market give us reach today, and the growing installed base of display smartglasses extends it.
EUROPEAN RETAIL MEDIA · TAM
≈ €20.8bn
in 2026 · heading to ~€29–31bn by 2028
Retail media is one of the fastest-growing categories in advertising, and in-store is its next frontier.
Display smartglasses — installed base (worldwide)
2027
11.5m
2028
~20m
2029
~30m
2030
42m
~54% CAGR worldwide · Germany 0.7m → 2.9m over the same period. The installed base is the addressable reach.
The founders
Built by ad-tech operators.
Two founders who have worked together for 25 years and built, scaled and exited Tier-1 advertising technology before, with more than 20 years in ad-tech, video monetisation and SaaS.
Patrick Knippel
Managing Director Business
Dipl. Wirt.-Ing. and MBA in Media Management (Steinbeis / NYU Stern / SDA Bocconi, top of class). 25+ years in media, ad-tech and operations, co-founding and building Nowtilus from 2007.
Leander Carell
Managing Director Product
20+ years in media, ad-tech and digital video monetisation. Most recently SVP Advanced TV Strategy at Equativ, leading CTV product and strategy after the sale of Serverside.ai.
Open role
Founding CTO: we’re hiring
We are looking for a founding CTO who builds hands-on and leads architecture and engineering, from the glasses clients to the XR ad server.
With Nowtilus and Serverside.ai the team built and scaled Tier-1 advertising technology. StellaNordis applies that operator experience to the next medium.
NowtilusServerside.aiEquativBerlin
Get in touch
Let's talk about the store as media.
Whether you are a retail chain, a brand, an agency or an investor, we would be glad to show you the prototype and discuss a pilot. Tell us a little about you and we'll come back quickly.
StellaNordis monetizes the largest physical advertising space there is — connecting advertising, navigation and loyalty at the point of sale, with measurable impact and a clear shopper-value story.
Leander Carell und Dipl. Wirt.-Ing. Patrick Knippel, MBA
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