Counterfeit products hurt both consumers and manufacturers, diverting almost $3 trillion in sales annually away from their true brand owners and retail distributors. MarqVision, a recent graduate of the prestigious Y Combinator Startup School, is tackling that challenge through the use of AI and software technology.
Founded in 2019 by Harvard Law School Graduate and CEO Mark Lee, MarqVision seeks to disrupt the fraud and detection industry that still uses labor intensive processes. The company’s fraud platform protects intellectual property with technology that automatically monitors and protects brands’ IP online, resulting in increased productivity and lower costs.
To accomplish this ambitious undertaking Lee put together a strong team of legal and AI experts. He also was also accepted into the summer 2021 cohort of the Y Combinator Startup School. While a member MarqVision developed its AI-powered IP protection platform that uses image recognition and semantic analysis to identify and remove counterfeits from online marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba in over 30 countries.
LEE received further support from Y Combinator when it participated in the recently closed $5 million seed round that include SoftBank Ventures and Bass Investment.
“Our mission is to help brands, retailers and marketplaces navigate brand and IP protection, and this latest funding raise will allow us to do just that,” said Mark Lee, CEO and Co-Founder of MarqVision.
Given the sizeable amount of sales that are diverted away from the brand owners and the retailers, MarqVision’s new platform achieved rapid growth following its introduction in 2020—and reaching a 50% monthly growth rate over the most recent past six months. They also surpassed $1 million in annual recurring revenue within its first nine months, exceeding the standard rate for a SaaS startup.
“The rate at which MarqVision is growing illustrates the universal problem of counterfeits,” Lee continued.
Funds from the seed raise will used for the company’s global expansion and to add to its infrastructure. The platform’s success in the US has accelerated its entry into the Asian market with the recent opening of an office in Seoul, protecting Korean brands from IP infringements in China and Southeast Asia. The company also launched anti-piracy software to protect global content in the gaming, entertainment and animation industries.
“MarqVision is building a category-defining product in the IP protection industry using the power of AI technology,” said JP Lee of SoftBank Ventures, a main investor in the seed round. “This investment allows MarqVision to accelerate its global expansion in both the U.S. and Asia.”
MarqVision reflects Y Combinator’s model for helping startups and early stage companies. Once accepted into its Startup School, the incubator invests a small amount of money ($125k) in each cohort member. They also work intensively with the founders for three months, focusing on each startup’s innovative idea.
Given the magnitude of counterfeit product sales each year and the labor intensive approach currently used in the fraud detection industry, MarqVision identified a whole industry ripe for technological innovation. Y Combinator through its Startup School and funding has helped them seize that opportunity.
