When Mark Lee was a legislation scholar at Harvard, a trademark class uncovered him to the staggering scale of counterfeiting, a bootleg business value greater than $3 trillion yearly, and set him on an sudden path to entrepreneurship.
“I used to be at all times broadly excited about know-how and startups, however I by no means actually thought I’d be an entrepreneur. I assumed I used to be set to grow to be a lawyer; most of my relations are legal professionals, and practising legislation felt like a pure path,” Lee mentioned in an unique interview with iinfoai. However when he acquired to Harvard Regulation, the training wasn’t fairly what he anticipated, Lee mentioned, including that he started to query whether or not a profession as a company lawyer was the fitting match.
“So I began exploring completely different concepts. In the future, I took a trademark class and realized that counterfeiting is the world’s largest felony enterprise, $3 trillion in counterfeit merchandise traded yearly, about 8% of world commerce. What struck me was that in COVID, as every thing was shifting on-line, this already large market was rising 20% a yr, fueled by marketplaces and social media,” Lee continued. “I noticed it as a common downside—and one which could possibly be solved with the know-how I used to be enthusiastic about on the time: laptop imaginative and prescient.”
That perception grew to become the seed for MarqVision, the corporate he later co-founded in 2021. The title itself displays its origins: “Marq” from trademark, and “Imaginative and prescient” from laptop imaginative and prescient. The mission was easy however formidable: harness AI-powered laptop imaginative and prescient to struggle counterfeiting and trademark infringement on a worldwide scale.
Quick ahead to 2025 and the LA-headquartered AI startup has closed a $48 million Sequence B spherical, bringing its complete capital raised to about $90 million.
Roughly half of the contemporary capital will go towards increasing its AI and engineering groups to speed up automation and combine generative AI throughout its product suite. One other $10 million is earmarked for making the platform enterprise-ready as the corporate strikes upmarket to focus on bigger manufacturers, whereas an extra $10 million will fund regional growth. Already lively within the U.S., Korea, China, and Europe, MarqVision is now coming into Japan, highlighting the borderless nature of IP legislation and the corporate’s push to scale globally.
The financing was led by Peak XV Companions — previously Sequoia Capital India & SEA — with participation from Salesforce Ventures, HSG (previously Sequoia China), Coral Capital, and Michael Seibel, associate emeritus at Y Combinator. Returning backers, together with YC, Altos Ventures, and Atinum Funding, additionally joined the spherical.
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“More and more, top-tier traders are searching for know-how corporations that leverage AI not simply to boost productiveness, however to basically rework service supply,” Lee defined. “AI is increasing the overall addressable marketplace for software program from effectivity instruments into the execution of the work itself — unlocking a market alternative of over $10 trillion. Whereas many early-stage corporations are experimenting with AI to disrupt labor-intensive service industries, only a few have reached the early development stage with the dimensions and traction.”
MarqVision serves greater than 350 clients worldwide throughout industries starting from style and luxurious to gaming, prescription drugs, leisure, automotive, and client electronics. The startup reached $1 million in annual recurring income inside eight months, $10 million in three years, and not too long ago crossed $20 million after 4 years, doubling yearly alongside the way in which.
“Our aim is $100M ARR by mid-2027,” Lee mentioned. “Progress might have been quicker, however we prioritized two issues: delivering the most effective buyer expertise and constructing a scalable AI-driven basis. As a managed service, we will monetize many choices, however every thing ties again to at least one core promise—serving to world manufacturers management their digital presence and develop income.”
As soon as thought of an unappealing class in know-how, “companies” is being redefined by AI, which brings software-like scalability and effectivity. This shift has fueled investor curiosity, with Peak XV, HSG, and Salesforce Ventures backing the corporate’s imaginative and prescient. The rise of huge language fashions has reframed its positioning from a “software program firm with people within the loop” to a frontrunner within the rising AI-led companies area, drawing robust competitors in its newest funding spherical.
MarqVision began out preventing counterfeits, utilizing AI to identify and take away faux merchandise on-line. Because the know-how superior, the startup shifted its focus towards serving to manufacturers instantly get better misplaced income. As we speak, many purchasers report a roughly 5% increase in gross sales, making the platform invaluable not simply to authorized groups but in addition to go-to-market organizations monitoring income affect, in line with Lee.
When Lee first pitched MarqVision, he envisioned a $5 billion software program firm, promoting $50,000 instruments to 10,000 IP groups worldwide. However YC associate Michael Seibel urged him to assume greater — past software program — by reimagining how IP and model professionals work. MarqVision has since expanded into end-to-end managed companies, a possibility Lee now believes is 100 occasions bigger than his unique plan.
Model safety usually includes detecting and eradicating infringements like counterfeits and impersonations, whereas model management goes additional, giving corporations the power to handle their presence throughout e-commerce, social media, web sites, and chat platforms, Lee famous. Wanting forward, the roadmap consists of model intelligence, providing insights into provide chains, pricing methods, and reseller networks.
“Our imaginative and prescient is to be the spine of each world model that owns IP — changing into the AI-led companies platform for IP, content material, and model professionals worldwide,” Lee mentioned.
