UK startup Serve First bags new funding and hooks new retailers including The Body Shop

Serve First, an AI driven customer experience and performance management platform, has secured £5 million in new funding from Pembroke VCT and the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, through fund manager Mercia Ventures.

Both firms first invested in June 2025 as part of a £4.5 million funding round. Serve First has raised £9.6 million in total to date.

Since the initial investment, Serve First has landed new customers including Brentford FC, The Sushi Co, Topps Tiles, The Body Shop and Spud Bros. It has also expanded into Europe by securing a contract with a chain of over 2,500 pharmacies in seven countries.

Launched in 2023, Serve First’s AI powered platform collects and analyses customer feedback from in-store surveys, online reviews and mystery shopping. Its software then translates these insights into actions for frontline teams.

The latest funding will be used to strengthen its sales and marketing function, including the imminent appointment of a Chief Revenue Officer, and will also support continued product development, including further investment in AI capabilities. 

Serve First was established by Founder and CEO Erol Ayvaz, who has more than 20 years’ experience in technology and customer experience, including roles at Asana and Market Force Information. The company, which is based in Milton Keynes, now employs 25 staff.

Fred Ursell, Head of Investments at Pembroke Investment Managers, says: “The best investments reveal themselves quickly. Erol is a rare founder – someone who has both operated multi-site businesses at the coalface and scaled software companies, which means he understood this problem from the inside before Serve First ever wrote a line of code.” 

“That founder-market fit is showing in the numbers: since backing him in June 2025, Serve First has grown revenue at breakneck speed, deepened relationships with its existing enterprise clients, and secured a significant European rollout with a major client. When a portfolio company executes this well this early, increasing our support is an obvious decision. We're excited to back the team through the next phase.”

Ayvaz comments: “The company’s growth over the last year is a clear indication of the market appetite for Serve First’s offering, and this latest funding injection speaks to both the future potential of the business and the strong delivery over the last year by our exceptional team.”

“It’s an exciting time to be operating in this space, and there remains considerable untapped potential for Serve First’s offering. We expect market demand to accelerate rapidly with the rise of agentic AI, which is making customer experience far more critical to business performance than ever before.”

Howard Mitchell, Investment Director at Mercia Ventures, says: “The Serve First team have built a great product that is loved by their expanding list of customers. With market demand strengthening, this is an opportune time for them to accelerate growth. We are excited to support them on their journey.”

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.