Markmi, a Ghent-based AI startup, has raised €1.1 million in capital from a mix of tech and fashion retail investors to accelerate its international expansion. The team has developed an AI-powered assistant that helps fashion retailers make faster, data-driven markdown decisions, reducing manual work, boosting revenue, and protecting margins. After demonstrating strong results with clients like C&A, G-Star, ZEB and Torfs, Markmi now plans to deepen its presence in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Nordics, with a first step into the US market later this year.
Ghent, [April 2] – Fashion retailers around the world are seeing their profitability come under pressure due to a range of factors. Ensuring that every item is offered at the right price at the right time is therefore crucial. This is especially true when items can no longer be sold at full price and need to be marked down—whether for mid-season sales, clearance, or events like Black Friday. Think, for instance, of selling gloves after winter: retailers need to decide when and at what discount to sell them, to avoid them sitting in the warehouse.
Many retailers still rely on outdated pricing methods and manual spreadsheets, leading to inefficient decisions: marking down too early means unnecessary margin loss, while reacting too late results in excess inventory
Markmi, a Ghent-based AI startup, wants to fundamentally change that. With a capital injection of €1.1 million, Markmi is expanding its AI-powered markdown assistant across Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Nordics, with an ambitious step toward the US later this year. By supporting fashion retail teams in making faster, data-driven pricing decisions, Markmi helps them boost revenue and protect margins. Clients like C&A, G-Star, Zizzi, ZEB and Torfs are already seeing 5–10% more revenue and 2–5% higher margins during markdown periods.
From family heritage to AI for fashion
Laurent Mainil, CEO of Markmi, grew up in a family with roots in fashion. His grandfather ran a Belgian fashion company during the textile industry’s golden years. “Today, fashion retailers face completely new challenges: shifting consumer behavior, rising costs, and a market where speed and precision are key,” says Mainil. “Too many companies still rely on time-consuming Excel sheets and gut feeling. With Markmi, we give them an AI assistant that enables faster, more accurate, and more profitable pricing decisions.”
How Markmi helps fashion retail thrive
“During the COVID period, we worked under the Crunch Analytics banner with fashion retailers, focusing on clearing stock, achieving revised revenue goals, and protecting margins in extremely tough market conditions,” says Mainil. “That experience taught us that markdowns—an essential part of pricing—have long been overlooked from a tech perspective.” In a sector where speed and precision make all the difference, the team saw a clear need for a more advanced, data-driven approach. To better address that need and accelerate growth as a tech company, Markmi was spun off from Crunch Analytics.
So how does Markmi work? By combining AI-powered insights with company-specific rules, the AI assistant helps fashion retail teams determine optimal markdowns far more quickly and efficiently. Markmi offers decision-makers clear price suggestions and scenarios. What happens at which discount? How does it impact sales, margin, and stock turnover? Markmi calculates these different scenarios, giving teams insight into the impact of their choices. This allows them to make data-driven decisions while using their experience to make adjustments when needed. They maintain control over their pricing strategy, while responding faster and more effectively to changing market conditions.
“Retailers must not only decide which products to mark down, but also when and by how much, taking into account sales dynamics and inventory levels. It’s an incredibly complex puzzle, one that needs to be solved for thousands of items, multiple times a season,” says Mainil. “Markmi analyzes millions of scenarios in minutes and provides recommendations aligned with your goals.”
A concrete example? At G-Star EU, the tool helps manage markdowns for its inventory, a task that would normally take weeks of manual work. Markmi's Assistant performs 14.5 million calculations in just five days, allowing the team to evaluate multiple scenarios and select the most profitable strategy.
Markmi also plays a crucial role in C&A’s markdown process. The international retailer uses the tool to manage large-scale markdowns, with the AI assistant taking different markets and price points into account. “Markdowns are one of the biggest cost items on a fashion retailer’s P&L. Markmi has significantly reduced this cost for us,” says Markus Krenn, VP & Head of Commercial Planning Europe at C&A.
International expansion with the support of Belgian fashion & tech investors: focus on the EU first, US by end of 2025
After a growth phase mainly in Belgium and the Netherlands, Markmi is ready to scale internationally. The funding will accelerate expansion into the Nordics, and the first step toward the US is planned later this year. “Retailers around the world face the same challenges. We’re seeing interest from multiple markets now that the hype around AI is fading and the demand for solutions that impact the core of a fashion retail organization is growing,” says Mainil.
But Markmi is looking beyond markdowns. The goal is to build a complete platform for AI-powered pricing decisions in fashion retail, including solutions for full-price management and promotions. “The future of retail lies in flexible price management,” says Mainil. “Fashion retailers need to respond more quickly to market dynamics and customer behavior. In that context, AI isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity.”
Laurent Mainil is proud of the mix of investors backing Markmi. “We’ve received support not just from the fashion retail sector itself, but also from tech investors who believe in AI’s transformative impact on the industry. Markmi positions itself as a fashion retail tech player that unites both worlds.”
Among them are Wolf (including Luc Van Mol, ex-ZEB) and the Torfs family, who are bringing their fashion expertise to help grow Markmi internationally. They believe in AI’s power to fundamentally improve fashion retail.
Markmi also counts a number of prominent Ghent-based tech investors, including Lorenz Bogaert (StarApps & Pitchdrive), Matthias Geeroms (Lighthouse), Jan Teerlinck (Ex-Selligent), Roeland Delrue (Aikido, Ex-Showpad), Christophe Morbee (Newschool VC), and Jonas Deprez (Donna, Ex-Daltix). PMV has also joined as an investor.
About Markmi
Markmi is the AI-powered markdown assistant for fashion retail. The assistant helps fashion companies manage their markdowns more strategically and profitably. With proven results such as 5–10% more revenue and 2–5% higher margins, Markmi offers a modern, data-driven approach to fashion retail markdowns.
For more info, contact:
Nils Roelandt
