Warranty spend is a $50 billion market that most people never really think about until their dishwasher breaks, and they’re stuck on hold trying to figure out if it’s covered.
For manufacturers, the current warranty management approach is complex, siloed, and manual, with processes scattered across ERPs, CRMs, and ticketing systems. Support representatives get overwhelmed, and customers get frustrated. Industry research reveals widespread frustration, with 60% of customers associating difficulty with the warranty experience and 32% willing to abandon brands after just one bad experience. On top of that, customers often require multiple touchpoints to resolve claims.
Despite this massive pain point, existing solutions aren’t solving the problem. Most platforms cater to extended warranty resellers rather than manufacturers managing their own limited warranties, while CRMs, chatbots, and ERP systems create more fragmentation instead of streamlining the process.
Enter Mahalo, the company building the first comprehensive post-purchase customer experience platform for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), powered by generative AI. In addition to processing warranty claims more efficiently, Mahalo focuses on preventing them altogether through intelligent self-service and proactive customer support.
At Bridge, we target companies addressing analog workflows through software and automation, with a focus on industries underserved by existing technology. Limited warranty management aligns very well with our thesis — it’s a massive and essential business function that is in need of more automation via a modern software solution.
Mahalo’s customer portal uses AI to automate support interactions by guiding users through product troubleshooting and registration, dramatically reducing warranty claims, support tickets, and unnecessary customer service interactions. The AI-powered assistant provides 24/7 access to product information and context-aware responses trained on manufacturer data, enabling customers to resolve issues independently.
When warranty claims are necessary, the platform streamlines the process with structured claim submission, real-time tracking, and AI-powered decision support. The system also provides fraud detection capabilities with confidence scoring and automated workflows that integrate with existing CRM and ERP systems.
Beyond support and warranty management, Mahalo offers AI-driven product registration workflows that increase adoption rates through progressive data collection, plus customer analytics that provide real-time insights into product performance and customer behavior patterns — allowing for more personalized consumer relationships.
The company, based in Chicago, emerged out of Diagram Ventures, a Montreal-based venture studio, and is led by CEO Rob Lowe, who the Bridge team has known for over a decade. Rob brings over 20 years of B2B SaaS experience, having previously founded Wellspring, a leading IP management platform that was acquired by Resurgens in 2022. Diagram’s thorough research and validation of this problem area paired with Rob’s track record of success gives us confidence in the team’s ability to successfully solve the problem.
Jason Thomas, General Partner at Bridge, first met Rob in 2014, when Bridge took a close look at investing in Wellspring’s Series A round. Although Bridge regrettably did not invest, Bridge was highly impressed by Rob as a leader & operator and kept close touch over the years. When Rob reached out recently to catch up on Mahalo, Bridge was very intrigued given its high opinion of Rob along with Mahalo aligning well with its thesis. Jason subsequently offered to introduce Rob to Motivate, a leading fin tech-focused VC, who ended up leading the Series Pre-Seed round.
Mahalo is well-positioned to help manufacturers facing complex post-purchase customer experience challenges, most notably where the quick and efficient resolution of issues can build customer loyalty and directly impact both cost & retention. The company has already engaged some early customers — also acting as design partners — and plans on launching its MVP (“minimum viable product”) this summer before rolling out more widely.
The timing for Mahalo aligns perfectly with recent advances in AI and automation, enabling companies to turn post-purchase interactions from a necessary burden into a competitive advantage that increases customer satisfaction. These breakthroughs also open the door for an innovative company like Mahalo to disrupt established players.
Beyond the current platform capabilities, Mahalo plans to launch additional features with a goal to create a comprehensive post-purchase ecosystem that reduces support volume and delivers measurable cost savings, while building stronger customer relationships.
We participated in Mahalo’s $2.6 million pre-seed round led by Motivate, with Diagram also participating. The funds will be used to scale product development as well as sales and marketing efforts. We look forward to supporting Rob and the Mahalo team as they transform how manufacturers handle these critical obligations.
Bridge Venture Fund is a Chicago-based, seed-stage venture capital firm investing in software and consumer businesses in overlooked categories underserved by innovation. While traditional VCs invest to create categories, we invest in established categories where innovation is lagging.
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