Return Signals
Product & Competitive Intelligence
Proactively engages e-commerce customers post-purchase via SMS to prevent returns.
Company Overview
Builds an AI-powered SMS platform that proactively engages high-value e-commerce customers post-purchase, using LLMs and predictive analytics to resolve issues, prevent returns, and convert refunds into exchanges.
Competitive Advantage & Moat
Product Roadmap & Public Announcements
Return Signals has publicly positioned its product around proactive post-delivery SMS engagement, AI-powered conversational support with seamless human escalation, visual support (photo/video analysis), and unified brand dashboards for customer sentiment and product feedback. They publicly highlight 61% engagement rates, 74% response rates, and 1.8-day average resolution times, with a stated goal of delivering 5-10% margin uplift for e-commerce brands.
Signals & Private Analysis
Terms of Service confirm reliance on Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic AI providers, suggesting a multi-model orchestration approach. Founder Ilya Valmianski's deep background in medical NLP and conversational AI (Curai Health, MDandMe/AuxHealth) suggests proprietary work on context-aware dialogue systems. The lack of Shopify App Store or G2 reviews implies they are operating in a high-touch, white-glove pilot phase with select enterprise brands. Conference and YC Demo Day signals point toward omnichannel expansion (WhatsApp, email, chat) and deeper e-commerce platform integrations.
Product Roadmap Priorities
Predictive High-Value Customer Identification & Proactive Engagement
The AI figures out which customers are most valuable and reaches out to them first after delivery, before they even think about returning something.
It's like a maître d' who memorizes every VIP guest's favorite table and greets them by name before they even reach the door.
Visual AI for Product Issue Diagnosis & Resolution
When a customer texts a photo of a damaged or wrong item, the AI instantly analyzes the image to figure out what's wrong and suggests a fix or exchange—no human needed.
It's like having a doctor who can diagnose your problem just by looking at a photo you texted, then immediately writing the prescription.
Context-Aware Conversational AI with Adaptive Tone & Escalation
The AI chatbot doesn't just answer questions—it reads the customer's mood and adjusts its tone like a skilled human agent, knowing exactly when to handle things itself and when to bring in a real person.
It's like a customer service rep who can tell you're frustrated before you even say it, switches from cheerful to empathetic on a dime, and knows exactly when to say "let me get my manager" without you having to ask.
Company Overview
Key Team Members
- Ilya Valmianski, Co-Founder & CEO
Founder Force Multiplier
Ilya Valmianski's rare combination of PhD-level ML research, production conversational AI experience in healthcare (where accuracy and empathy are critical), and prior founder experience gives Return Signals a technical edge in building nuanced, context-aware AI agents that feel human, applied to the high-stakes, high-margin world of e-commerce customer retention.
Funding History
- 2024 | Return Signals founded by Ilya Valmianski and Alejandro Zaniolo.
- 2025 | Accepted into Y Combinator; Pre-Seed round completed (amount undisclosed).
- 2025-2026 | Product development and early pilot phase with select e-commerce brands.
Competitors
- AI Customer Support: Gorgias (Shopify-native CX), Siena AI (empathic AI agent), Zowie (e-commerce AI).
- Proactive Engagement: Attentive (SMS marketing), Postscript (SMS for Shopify), Klaviyo (email/SMS automation).
- Returns Management: Loop Returns, Narvar, Happy Returns (logistics-focused).
- AI Concierge/Chat: Ada, Intercom Fin, Tidio AI (general AI support agents).
