Anyone who has abandoned an online cart because a simple product question went unanswered understands the problem Loops is trying to solve. The agentic e-commerce startup has raised a $3.5 million seed round to put an AI layer between shoppers and the stores they browse.

The round was led by a16z speedrun, Andreessen Horowitz's accelerator program, with participation from NTT Docomo, Connecticut Innovations, Alumni Ventures and Monday Capital, according to SiliconANGLE.

A Frustrating Purchase Sparked the Idea

Loops was founded by CEO Ari Nazir and İlker Selim Zorluoğlu. The idea came from a trip to Bali, where Zorluoğlu tried to get a retailer to answer questions about a product, never got a response and gave up on the purchase.

"Retailers lacked the infrastructure to operate in an AI-driven world," Nazir said.

One AI Layer, Many Jobs

Instead of selling separate point tools, Loops offers a unified AI system that learns a retailer's full product catalog and business context, then follows each shopper from discovery through checkout.

Its platform includes natural-language AI search and product discovery, a shopping assistant that answers questions in real time, product enrichment that cleans and standardizes catalog data for both humans and AI systems, and virtual try-on.

Nazir said the company wants customers "to buy a business capability that they can depend on," rather than another plug-in.

Results From Real Retailers

Loops says it works with more than 70 online retailers and has enhanced millions of customer journeys. The company points to measurable results: Turkish supermarket chain A101 saw an 83% increase in conversion rate, and coffee retailer Tchibo saw average order values rise 13.6%.

Fashion brand Mavi uses Loops to power an AI concierge that lets shoppers describe an occasion, style or fit rather than searching by keyword.

Fareed Mosavat of a16z speedrun said commerce is a natural starting point because "the link between a better AI experience and business value is unusually clear."

Bigger Ambitions

Loops plans to use the funding to scale globally. Over the longer term, it wants to apply the same approach to financial services and energy, industries where customers also struggle to find the right product among complex options.

"Commerce is our starting point," Nazir said.

Why It Matters

Retailers are under pressure to adapt as shoppers increasingly turn to AI assistants instead of traditional search bars. Large platforms are building their own AI shopping tools, which leaves mid-sized retailers needing a way to keep up without hiring large AI teams.

Loops is positioning itself as that solution. The competition is crowded, from search vendors to chatbot providers, but its early conversion numbers give it a strong story. The next challenge is proving those results hold as it expands beyond its early markets and into new industries.

Source

SiliconANGLE — "E-commerce AI startup Loops raises $3.5M to create smoother online shopping experiences"