A Wilmington startup that leverages artificial intelligence to boost customer engagement is looking to raise $12 million in seed round funding as AI continues to permeate the fundraising world.
The year-old company, Relotis, uses AI in concert with QR codes to give companies the opportunity to market products to a customer based on their past behavior and purchasing history. For example, a customer who receives an online order is able to scan the QR codes for a discount on a future order and machine learning is able to track the customer's preferences — ultimately offering more personalized products down the line.
Founder Alani Kuye wants to move quickly on the fundraising round, hoping to close it in the next two to three months. Kuye said his experience in the tech and startup world has fueled and informed that ambitious goal and large fundraising number. He's spent over 20 years in the enterprise technology space, starting as an engineer and later founded two startups: PDS Data Systems and Phlatbed.
"This isn't my first go at this," he said. "I understand how the process works and [my] experience over the last few years has enabled me to build a very solid team and we've been working very hard in the background on this," Rolotis has a core team of six people currently working on the technology, Kuye said.
Funding may be down for much of the tech world, but not for AI. Globally, venture capital fundraising dropped 48% to $173.9 billion in the first six months of 2023, Pitchbook data shows. More than $40 billion of that total was invested into AI startups.
Kuye said what separates Relotis from other AI platforms is that it's already in the market and has a proof of concept. The company's main customer right now is Gorilla Vapes, a South Jersey e-cigarette distributor. There are strict federal regulations on vape advertisements, so Gorilla Vapes uses Relotis as an alternative way to market their products to their customers. It helps companies engage directly with their consumers and Kuye said that it's an example of how companies in industries with tight regulations can still reach their customers.
For example, if someone orders a pair of shoes and shorts, Relotis technology tracks metrics like size, purchasing patterns and distribution time. It can then offer customers similar packages with potential discounts and also can tell customers when shipping their orders may be the most efficient. Companies in return are able to gather data on where, when and what their customers are ordering.
Kuye and his team started work on the project about a year ago and it was brought to market in March. In the four months that Relotis has been in the market, it has gathered 70,000 to 80,000 QR scans, Kuye said. He wants that number to be in the millions by the end of the year.
The fundraising would help push out a "massive sales effort" through additional hiring, Kuye said. That would help scale the product to other industries. Kuye also said he has a pipeline of distribution companies that could allow Relotis to partner with major retailers.
Kuye is a believer in AI and how it can transform daily life, as well as his company. He said long term, he hopes to utilize AI in other areas like email marketing and smart home technologies. One example he used was connecting Relotis technology to a smart refrigerator, helping it detect when groceries are running low and giving recommendations and discounts for those items.
"This is not a forever exercise because we would like to leverage AI into other areas, not just in distribution," Kuye said.
