Seel

Seel provides post-purchase infrastructure for online retailers and marketplaces, combining AI-based risk assessment with insurance-backed coverage of returns, refunds and delivery issues. Its core merchant products include Worry-Free Purchase®, Worry-Free Delivery® and extended warranty, alongside agency-style services for support, resale, sales, marketing and compliance, plus a merchant dashboard and resolution center. After an order is placed, merchants can attach "return assurance" to transfer the liability of a return to Seel; if the item is returned within the coverage window, Seel pays the refund rather than the merchant. Shoppers can also add assurance themselves at checkout for a fee, making otherwise non-returnable items returnable.

The platform also handles shopper-facing post-purchase communication: 24/7 AI-assisted live support trained on a merchant's products and policies, worldwide delivery tracking and notifications, and real-time visibility of open requests, returns and refunds. Merchants can configure resolution rules by product type, return reason and customer eligibility, and offer refunds, exchanges, store credit or Shopify gift cards. A one-click resale capability, launched in 2026 within Seel's order center, lets shoppers sell items across multiple marketplaces when they are no longer eligible for a return or refund. Fraud-risk assessment flags signals such as unusually high return amounts, unusual item counts and association with high-return-rate customer clusters.

Insurance benefits are provided by Seel Insurance Inc. or Arch Specialty Insurance Company, with policies offered and administered by Seel Insurance Services, Inc., depending on jurisdiction and product availability.

Founding story

Cofounders Zack Peng and Bill Liu conceived Seel after hearing an apparel marketplace CEO discuss his refund policy; they offered to build a custom pilot for him, which grew into the business. Both cofounders hold dual degrees from UNC Chapel Hill and were named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in the U.S.

Business model

Seel sells post-purchase coverage and operations software to online merchants and marketplaces, assuming the financial liability for returns, refunds and delivery problems that it underwrites. Merchants pay a variable return-assurance fee per order to lock in net revenue at the point of sale, and shoppers can separately purchase assurance at checkout for a small fee. The company also offers agency services (support, resale, sales, marketing, compliance) and extended warranty products alongside its insurance entities.

Fee-based: merchants pay variable per-order assurance fees, and shoppers can pay an opt-in fee at checkout for coverage; insurance products are offered through Seel Insurance Inc./Seel Insurance Services, Inc. and Arch Specialty Insurance Company.

Traction

TechCrunch reported close to 200 merchants in private beta as of January 2022, with 20% of shoppers adding assurance to orders and a stated 5% conversion lift for merchants; headcount grew from five to 25 employees during 2021. Forbes reported over 3,000 retailers and more than $20 million in annual recurring revenue as of January 2025, and $6 billion of GMV managed annually as of August 2026. Seel's website states 5,000+ online merchants and that 0.116% of global e-commerce GMV runs on Seel.

Latest developments

In August 2026 Seel launched a resale feature within its order center, allowing shoppers to recover value from gently used clothing once the retailer's return or refund window has closed. The company describes itself as an "AI workforce for commerce" and markets agentic post-purchase products, and is hiring in San Francisco for roles including Forward Deployed Engineer and Deal Desk & Unit Economics Lead.