Merchkit, a Vancouver- and Toronto-based startup founded by former leaders of EventMobi and Voiceflow, has raised $2 million CAD ($1.4M USD) in pre-seed funding to automate retail merchandising and product catalog management using AI.
The round was led by Afore Capital and Antler Canada, with participation from strategic retail and tech angel investors.
AI-Driven Automation for Retail Merchandising
Merchkit’s platform helps retailers, marketplaces, and brands onboard and optimize product listings at scale, eliminating manual processes that slow down product launches.
The startup’s AI technology automates:
- Product data entry & categorization
- Content creation & listing optimization
- Catalog management & workflow automation
CEO Bijan Vaez, former EventMobi co-founder and CTO, launched Merchkit after struggling with managing 300,000+ SKUs at e-commerce startup Browze.
“Merchandising inefficiencies stifle innovation,” said Vaez. “Our AI allows teams to focus on growth instead of manual data entry.”
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Early Traction & Growth Plans
- Lowe’s is already a customer, with enterprise contracts in furniture, appliances, and apparel sectors.
- The company will hire five more employees for AI development, data engineering, and customer success.
Vaez emphasized that legacy product information management (PIM) systems act as “static data repositories”, while Merchkit’s AI actively optimizes listings and streamlines workflows.
With $2M in funding, the startup is poised to transform retail merchandising, enabling brands to launch products faster and more efficiently in an increasingly competitive e-commerce landscape.
