Aistetic

Aistetic (AISTETIC LIMITED) is a UK software company that automates the creation of e-commerce listings from product photographs. Users upload single items or batches of images and the platform generates titles, descriptions, price recommendations and structured attribute data, then publishes the finished listings to marketplaces including eBay, Vinted and Depop. The self-serve product is positioned for resellers who want to reduce manual listing work, with a free tier covering 50 listings and no credit card requirement.

The same capability is offered to platforms and enterprises through ListingEngine, an API that accepts product images by URL or base64 together with optional metadata such as category hints, condition and target marketplace, and returns structured JSON containing title, description, price recommendation, category, condition and marketplace-specific attributes. The company cites an average processing time of about two seconds, a 99.9% uptime SLA, GDPR compliance with data processing agreements, right-to-erasure support and EU data residency options, plus webhook support and SDKs for Python, Node.js and PHP. Named target segments are recommerce marketplaces, returns and reverse-logistics operators, and SaaS or developer platforms. Aistetic also offers AI advisory and consulting engagements and runs a partner programme spanning pre- and post-purchase stages of the customer journey.

The company is registered in Abingdon, Oxfordshire under SIC code 62012 (business and domestic software development) and describes itself as based in the UK and backed by research from the University of Oxford.

Founding story

The company was founded by Duncan McKay, who previously worked at L'Oréal, Unilever and PepsiCo, won a Chairman's Award, built an £18M net revenue business in 12 months and holds an INSEAD MBA, together with Phil Torr, a professor at the University of Oxford and former Microsoft researcher who received a Google Impact Award in 2015, the Royal Society Brian Mercer Award in 2014 and a Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award.

Business model

Aistetic sells software that converts product images into listing data. A self-serve subscription product targets individual resellers, starting with a free allowance of 50 listings, no credit card required and cancellation at any time, alongside sales-led plans. For marketplaces, platforms and enterprises, the ListingEngine API is sold on a contracted basis with custom integration, dedicated technical support and onboarding, and a 99.9% uptime SLA. The company additionally offers AI advisory and consulting services and operates an incentivised partnership programme for ecommerce merchants.

Recurring software subscriptions for resellers, with a free entry tier, and enterprise API contracts for ListingEngine; consulting and advisory engagements are offered separately.

Traction

Company-reported figures include roughly 600,000 items processed, a 50% reduction in manual listing time, a 48% sell-through rate and about five days average time to sell for top sellers, and a threefold increase in seller productivity based on partner-reported data.