Local tech start-up, Refundid has closed a $12 million seed funding round led by Salesforce Ventures, which has previously invested in Stripe, Zoom, DocuSign and Monday.com.

Refundid provides a free instant refund payment to customers even before items are returned to the retailer. The retailer only pays Refundid if they’re satisfied with the return.

Refundid claims to generate a 42% increase in repurchase revenue, increase the speed of customer repurchases by three times and increase purchase average order value by 15%.

After less than a year in the market, over 80 retailers offer Refundid including Princess Polly, Adore Beauty, DISSH, sass & bide, PE Nation and Culture Kings.

Commenting on the raise and Refundid’s unique model, Refundid CEO and co-founder, Brad Karney said, “Seeing the positive results we had achieved with our retail partners so early on, it became clear to accelerate our growth so that Refundid can be offered to more retailers across the country.

“Historically, going to your local shop with an item and getting an on-the-spot refund was easy. The rise of ecommerce has made many aspects of shopping easier, but not refunds. Refunds are often the point at which a relationship between a customer and retailer is broken. We want to help fix that for the benefit of both the customer and retailer.

“Retailers do so much to acquire customers and ensure product and fulfilment are perfect, but with an average 20% of those customers asking for a refund, if they have a bad refund experience, you’ll likely lose that customer. What Refundid has done is turn that potential loss of customer into one that has a much greater long-term value.”

Salesforce Ventures managing director, Mike Ferrari said, “We are thrilled to partner with the Refundid team, who are working hand-in-hand with their retail partners to solve a huge pain point in the industry with a truly win-win product that provides value to both retailers and their customers. We look forward to working alongside Brad and the team as they continue to grow.”