Business
Pinch AI Raises $5M, Co-Led by Dynamo and Infinity Ventures to Give Retailers an AI Defense Against Exploding Return Fraud
Pinch, the AI-powered post-purchase intelligence platform that helps retailers reward loyal customers and prevent return fraud, announced a $5 million total seed round. The seed round was co-led by Dynamo Ventures and Infinity Ventures with additional participation from Defined Capital and PayPal Ventures.
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[{"type":"text","content":"SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Pinch, the AI-powered post-purchase intelligence platform that helps retailers reward loyal customers and prevent return fraud, announced a $5 million total seed round. The seed round was co-led by Dynamo Ventures and Infinity Ventures with additional participation from Defined Capital and PayPal Ventures.","length":362,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"image","alt":"Pinch AI","displaySize":"","headline":null,"caption":"Pinch AI","className":"","disableSlideshowImg":false,"size":{"original":{"width":400,"height":400,"url":"https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/20fd4ffed62f20fe04f918003e88ab3d"},"resized":{"url":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/91ftZEF5dnT03KTnUI8ZRg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTcwNTtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/20fd4ffed62f20fe04f918003e88ab3d","width":400,"height":400}},"href":"https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2859421/1_Logo.html","hrefExternal":true,"rel":"nofollow"},{"type":"text","content":"Built by fraud and risk leaders from PayPal, Google, and Simility, Pinch was born out of a simple realization: retail was fighting modern return abuse with blunt, static policies that hadn't evolved. After two decades of building fraud and risk systems that protected billions in global payments, Arthi Rajan Makhija, Co-Founder and CEO, saw the same pattern emerging in e-commerce returns. Together with Co-Founders Chirag Vaya (CPO) and Jayan Tharayil (COO), she assembled a team of former PayPal, Google, and Simility leaders to launch Pinch AI, the industry's first post-purchase risk operating system. The autonomous, AI-driven platform evaluates customer intent, detects emerging abuse patterns, and dynamically orchestrates return and refund decisions across checkout, return initiation, and warehouse operations, giving retailers the intelligence to protect margins without punishing loyal customers","length":915,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Average e-commerce return rates hover around 25%, with apparel and luxury often seeing even higher rates, creating a major drag on margins and growth. Pinch delivers two clear outcomes for retailers:","length":204,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"list","items":[{"val":[{"type":"text","content":"~8% reduction in return rate, by identifying and proactively denying only abusive returns or applying...