Local Artificial Intelligence Startup Loops AI Received $3.5 Million Seed Investment

Loops AI, a domestic technology startup that offers artificial intelligence-based natural language search experience in the e-commerce and retail industry, has successfully completed its seed investment round of $ 3.5 million.

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z Speedrun) participated in the round, which included NTT DOCOMO, Connecticut Innovations, Monday Capital, Alumni Ventures, and high-level angel investors from Netflix and Google. The startup uses this resource to strengthen its engineering staff and expand into global markets, especially Japan.

Loops AI was founded in 2025 by İlker Selim Zorluoğlu, Ari Nazir and Yusuf Bahadır; It prevents users from having to search for the right keywords, get lost among complex filters or browse hundreds of categories to find products on e-commerce platforms.

The developed infrastructure makes it possible for the consumer to convey his needs in everyday language, just as if he were explaining his needs to a store employee. The system instantly lists the most appropriate options by matching the user's request with the brand's database, instant stock information and special business rules.

Loops AI Founding Partner İlker Selim Zorluoğlu expresses the main purpose of the technology they developed as follows: "When you enter a store, you can say to the sales consultant, 'I am going to a business dinner in the evening, I have navy blue trousers, I am looking for a comfortable but decent shirt.' With Loops AI, you can explain your needs in the same way in online shopping. The system understands what you are looking for, evaluates it together with the brand's product catalog, product information and business rules, and finds suitable options."

Zorluoğlu also emphasizes that it is easy for artificial intelligence models to give general answers, and that the real expertise is in converting real company data directly into commercial success.

Working with Turkey's leading retail giants such as Mavi, Boyner, Petrol Ofisi and A101 Extra, the platform proves its impact in real customer traffic.

Shared data shows that artificial intelligence-supported shopping assistant infrastructure directly increases turnover and basket volume:

A101 Extra: The purchasing conversion of customers who interact with the Loops AI infrastructure increases by 83 percent and the rate of adding to cart increases by 77 percent compared to the control group.

Wee Baby: While the average spending per customer increased by 26 percent and the average basket amount by 11 percent, 32 percent of users who contacted the assistant placed an order directly after the first question.

With the investment it received, the startup initially focuses on the Japanese market, with the strategic support of NTT DOCOMO. The company aims to launch operations in Europe and Southeast Asia, especially in Germany, after Japan.

a16z Speedrun Investment Partner Fareed Mosavat confirms the potential behind the investment decision by pointing out Loops AI's powerful structure that can manage the customer journey in e-commerce end-to-end.

Loops AI aims to carry the multi-layered artificial intelligence architecture it has developed, not only on the retail side, to data-intensive sectors such as energy and finance.

Working on small language models (SLM) specific to corporate usage scenarios, the initiative paves the way for companies to run their private data with different artificial intelligence systems in a safe and efficient common architecture.