Caspian secures a U.S. customs broker license & drawback ABI and unveils its flagship duty drawback product to help exporters reclaim billions in unclaimed duty refunds from tariffs

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Caspian, an AI-driven customs compliance startup automating duty drawback and trade advisory services to help businesses manage tariff impacts, today announced its public launch out of stealth, and $5.4 million seed funding round led by Primary Venture Partners, with major investment from Blank Ventures.

Each year, billions of dollars in import duties are unclaimed by businesses due to a complex and paper-intensive legacy process, preventing exporters from reclaiming tariffs paid on imported goods later re-exported. Caspian’s platform ingests and analyzes companies’ international shipping and inventory data to identify eligible duty refunds and submits the claims within days instead of months. Replacing email chains and spreadsheets, Caspian enables companies to recoup money that would otherwise be left on the table.

Caspian is a rare CBP-approved tech company and licensed customs broker, a differentiator that enables Caspian to file claims directly with U.S. Customs on behalf of clients or to partner with large enterprises, customs brokers, and freight forwarders to augment their existing trade advisory work.

“We built Caspian to ensure all businesses can thrive in the current trade environment, and that begins with not leaving money on the table; right now, over 90% of eligible businesses don’t apply for duty drawback due to complex processes. Our technology solves this problem, which historically has cost businesses billions of dollars,” said Justin Sherlock, founder and CEO of Caspian. “Drawback is a cornerstone of U.S. economic policy to grow American exports and support re-shoring of critical industries. But the current process is excruciating for businesses, brokers, and regulators alike. Caspian brings AI fintech automation to bear on shippers’ bottom lines, improving the impact tariff incentives that support U.S. exporters.”

Caspian takes a different approach than prior global trade management and compliance software, which has historically focused on criminal activity and customs compliance, versus financial visibility and business growth. Caspian’s platform connects to clients’ trade records and inventory, identifying and calculating eligible drawback claims, and submitting necessary documentation to regulators. The result is a software product that more completely outsources and automates the financial services work than existing consultants, cutting costs and boosting bottom lines.

“Caspian’s approach to automate complex regulatory work with a focus on tackling the opaque world of tariffs is exactly aligned with our thesis that AI will reshape niche pockets of financial services,” said Emily Man, Partner at Primary Venture Partners, who will join Caspian’s Board of Directors. “Caspian is poised to invent their own software vertical — tariff management — and become the ‘go-to’ platform for global duty optimization.”

“Retailers traditionally rely on slow, expensive consultants, even as the rest of the commerce stack has digitized. When a multi-national luxury brand told us they’d uncovered consultants filing duty claims incorrectly, it became clear just how big the opportunity is for AI in high-friction service industries,” said Hannah Chelkowski, Co-Founder and General Partner, Blank Ventures. “Justin and Matt have the expertise from scaling Flexport; they speak the language of logistics and are executing at the pace of dynasty builders.”

“I’ve dealt with drawback in prior companies, so I was skeptical about taking on such a complex project. But Caspian proved its value quickly,” said Jim Franz, President, North America at UltiMaker, a Netherlands-based manufacturer of 3D printers. “We’re converted. Beyond drawback, we’re using Caspian to track duty spend and classifications — centralizing this data and executing these cost savings so quickly is a game-changer for our margins and inventory planning.”

About Caspian: Caspian is the first ever AI-native trade advisory platform for international supply chains, specializing in duty drawback and tariff refund processing. Founded in 2024 by Justin Sherlock and Matt Ebeweber, Caspian’s mission is to streamline cumbersome trade processes and put money back in businesses’ pockets. Caspian is a U.S.-licensed customs broker and ABI software vendor. Headquartered in San Francisco, Caspian is backed by investors including Primary Venture Partners and Blank Ventures, and works with companies across e-commerce, manufacturing, and retail to reclaim costly import duties. For more information, visit www.meetcaspian.com.

Contacts

Jill Harding
VP, Comms
Command for Caspian
jill@heycommand.com

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