Serve First raises €5.7M to expand its AI-powered customer experience platform.

      The Milton Keynes startup, which saw its annual recurring revenue triple in the year leading up to July 2025, is utilizing this new funding round to recruit a Chief Revenue Officer and advance product development. Serve First, a UK-based AI-powered customer experience platform, has secured €5.7 million (£5 million) in fresh funding, as reported by EU Startups. This funding will enhance the company's sales and marketing efforts, including the hiring of a Chief Revenue Officer, and will also facilitate ongoing product development.

      This follows a £4.6 million funding round concluded in July 2025, which involved Pembroke VCT, Mercia Ventures through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, Tiny VCT, Techstars, and angel investors. Founded in 2023 by Erol Ayvaz, Alan Mayer, and Antony Tagliamonti, Serve First is headquartered in Milton Keynes. Its platform compiles customer feedback from various sources such as in-store surveys, online reviews, and mystery shopping, using AI to convert that information into actionable insights and automated workflows for frontline staff.

      The company focuses on sectors like retail, hospitality, wellness, and facilities management, serving clients such as Aramark and Elior Group, two of the largest contract catering firms in the UK. Ayvaz has over 20 years of experience in customer experience technology, having worked with Asana and Market Force Information. He participated in the London Techstars accelerator program prior to the last fundraising and was part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II portfolio.

      The company tripled its annual recurring revenue in the twelve months before the July 2025 round and doubled its workforce. The new funds are intended to accelerate its international growth into Europe and the US, based on a UK market that the company believes it has validated through significant enterprise contracts. According to Technavio, the customer experience management software market is expected to expand by $17.1 billion between 2024 and 2029 at a CAGR of 15.7%, a trend that Serve First and its investors highlight as key to their confidence in the sector.