PayPal to buy Cymbio to expand AI-driven shopping across chat and search platforms

PayPal has agreed to acquire Cymbio, a Tel Aviv-headquartered company that helps brands sell across multiple digital channels, including AI-powered shopping and discovery tools.

In a statement, PayPal said it has previously partnered with Cymbio as part of its agentic commerce services, a suite of products designed to help merchants attract customers and drive sales in AI-driven environments.

The acquisition, the company said, will allow tens of millions of PayPal merchants to make their product catalogues discoverable on leading AI platforms.

“PayPal has established itself as a leading commerce partner for merchants looking to sell within top AI platforms,” said Michelle Gill, executive vice president and general manager of small business and financial services at PayPal. She said bringing Cymbio’s technology and team in-house would accelerate the rollout of agentic commerce tools to more merchants.

For a lay reader, agentic commerce refers to shopping experiences where AI systems do more than just show ads or links. Instead, AI assistants can recommend products, answer questions, compare options and even place orders on a shopper’s behalf. To work, those systems need structured, up-to-date product data and a way to pass orders into merchants’ existing systems.

Cymbio specialises in that connective layer. As part of PayPal, its technology will underpin Store Sync, one of PayPal’s agentic commerce services. Store Sync allows merchants’ product data to appear inside AI channels and routes orders directly into their existing fulfilment and order management systems. Importantly, PayPal said merchants remain the merchant of record, keep their customer relationships and retain control over branding.

Several retailers are already using Store Sync, according to PayPal. These include Abercrombie & Fitch, Fabletics, Ashley Furniture, Newegg and Adorama, with live integrations on Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity. In these setups, shoppers can discover and select products within an AI interface, while the transaction is fulfilled through the retailer’s normal operations.

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PayPal said its broader agentic commerce services and checkout options are currently available on Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity, with integrations for OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini app and AI Mode planned next. The strategy reflects a shift in how consumers may encounter products, moving from traditional web search and apps towards conversational and recommendation-driven AI tools.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The Recap

• PayPal will acquire Cymbio, a multi-channel orchestration platform.
• Store Sync makes product data discoverable on AI platforms.
• Deal expected to close in the first half of 2026.