Swiss AI startup Zenline AI has secured €1.3 million in pre-Seed funding to help European retail compete again by enabling smarter, AI-driven assortment decisions.
The round was led by Seedcamp, with participation from Yellow, First Momentum, and Arc Investors.
“We build AI agents that think like assortment decision-makers, but operate in seconds. Our mission is to empower European retailers to compete profitably again. Given how critical and shopper-centric assortment is, a retailer can win by increasing its top line and building a competitive edge against Amazon and Temu, because customers will easily find what they are looking for, consciously or not.” says Arber Sejdiji, CEO of Zenline AI.
Founded in 2024, Zenline AI empowers European retailers with AI agents for modern assortment optimisation. In a market shaped by global platforms and increasing margin pressure, Zenline aims to help build profitable, shopper-centric assortments.
Its AI reportedly delivers automated, product-level recommendations, from product launches and consolidation to the ongoing optimisation of existing items. By analysing internal margin and competitor data alongside social trends, Zenline identifies assortment gaps and suggests concrete pricing actions.
Co-founder Sejdiji combines retail expertise with AI acumen, shaped at BCG, P&G, ETH Zurich, and the University of Cambridge.
“Zenline hits a nerve in RetailTech. The future of category management is AI-powered. Until now, retailers lacked the foundation to make the most important decisions: what a strong assortment actually looks like. The team combines deep expertise in agentic systems and retail, and we’ve been genuinely impressed by their speed of execution. They have rethought assortment logic from the ground up to deliver immediate value to their first customers. This is exactly the kind of talent and solution coming out of Europe that we’re excited to back,” says Sia Houchangnia, Partner at Seedcamp.
Zenline AI has been used by European retailers since early 2025. The technology currently analyses over one million SKUs. The focus is fast insights and execution. Zenline’s AI agents deliver concrete recommendations for each product or category based on margin data, competitive signals, social trends, and shopper behavior.
The software identifies assortment gaps, detects cannibalisation effects, and suggests concrete optimisation actions. According to Zenline, their AI works without internal retailer data, and was co-developed with retail teams to ensure operational fit.
With the new funding, Zenline plans to accelerate product development, refine its AI model, and expand into additional verticals.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/08/zurichs-zenline-ai-raises-e1-3-million-to-strengthen-european-retailers-competitiveness-against-platforms-like-amazon-and-temu/
