Meadow AI lands $7M to scale ‘digital secret shopper’ platform for physical retailers and restaurants
Seattle startup Meadow AI has raised $7 million in new funding to scale its AI-powered operational software for physical retailers and restaurants.
The seed round was led by Ulu Ventures, with participation from York IE, Flying Fish, TenOneTen Ventures, Leadout Capital, and Wedbush Ventures. The financing includes the conversion of $6 million in Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFEs) from earlier pre-seed financing, bringing Meadow AI’s total funding to date to $13 million.
Meadow AI develops an artificial intelligence “co-manager” platform that gives operators real-time visibility into physical locations. The software ingests video and audio feeds alongside labor and inventory data to continuously monitor team execution, service speed, and overall store conditions.
Dubbed a “digital secret shopper,” the technology flags bottlenecks and delivers live prompts and coaching to frontline employees while customers are still on-site. It also automates repetitive administrative tasks, freeing up managers to stay on the floor.
Founded in 2023, Meadow AI was launched by repeat entrepreneurs Max Jai Sim and Abbas Guvenilir alongside CTO Dragos Velicanu. Sim and Guvenilir previously co-founded real estate technology startup Modus, which raised $14 million before being acquired by Compass in 2020, while Guvenilir went on to lead AI and engineering teams at Nordstrom. Velicanu holds a Ph.D. in physics from MIT, where he analyzed particle physics data at CERN, and previously led engineering at Dave AI.
The startup aims to eliminate a persistent blind spot for brick-and-mortar businesses, which lack the deep customer journey analytics available to e-commerce sites. While traditional point-of-sale systems track what was bought, Meadow’s technology reveals why a customer had a poor experience — such as waiting too long in line or going ungreeted.
“Physical businesses generate an enormous amount of information, but most operators still don’t have a clear, real-time understanding of what’s happening across their locations,” Velicanu said in a news release. “We’re trying to make the physical world as understandable and actionable as the digital world.”
Meadow AI says its software grew by 6x over the past year and projects another 5x growth over the next 12 months. The platform has expanded to more than nine brands across the restaurant, retail, hospitality, and entertainment sectors, generating over $3 million in contracted annual recurring revenue and more than $1.4 million in live ARR.
Alongside the funding, Meadow AI announced that former Toast VP of Enterprise Solutions Tanvir Bhangoo has joined as chief revenue officer to oversee enterprise expansion across restaurant and retail accounts.
Meadow AI has grown to 17 employees and is hiring, with plans to use the new capital to expand its engineering, product, and go-to-market teams.
