If you’ve ever tried filing a warranty claim and thought, “This feels like getting audited by a DMV with a vendetta,” you’re not alone. That post-purchase moment, the one where something breaks, confusion reigns, and customer support becomes a full-time job, has been ignored by tech for decades. But in true Midwestern fashion, a new player just rolled up with a clipboard, a Ph.D., and zero patience for inefficiency.
Enter Mahalo, the Chicago-based startup serving small and midsize manufacturers what they’ve been starved for: a real post purchase experience (PPX) platform. Not a widget. Not a “portal.” An actual AI-powered, end-to-end system that handles everything after the sale with focused precision, from troubleshooting and registration to warranty claims and follow-on purchases. Think of it as the system manufacturers didn’t know they needed, until Mahalo made it obvious.
Founded by Robert Lowe, a man with two exits on his belt (Wellspring and PittPatt, Google rang the bell on the latter) and a Ph.D. from Berkeley to back it up, Mahalo just closed a $2.6 million oversubscribed pre-seed round. No fluff, no gimmicks. Just conviction from serious money. Chicago’s own Motivate Venture Capital took the lead, backed by Diagram and Bridge Venture Fund, each bringing more than checkbooks to the table.
Also in the trenches: Nadim El-Asmar, Co-Founder and Head of Product & Operations. If Lowe’s the architect, El-Asmar is the builder, driving the product roadmap with the kind of focus that turns complex warranty workflows into intuitive, embedded user experiences manufacturers can deploy without a million dev cycles or another “digital transformation” pitch deck.
Let’s not overlook the market. Electronics and appliance makers burn through $50B+ annually in warranty claims. That’s not a stat. That’s a problem. Mahalo’s platform steps in as the single source of truth for those claims, cutting support costs while elevating brand trust. The PPX category didn’t exist before because no one took it seriously. Now, it’s a race, and Mahalo’s lapping folks before they even found the track.
This isn’t about fixing customer service. It’s about rebalancing the power dynamic. When manufacturers embed Mahalo directly into their support stack, they don’t just improve response times. They level up their entire after-sale strategy. Welcome to the AI-powered warranty game. It’s clearer, faster, and for once, not designed to make your blood pressure spike.
To Robert Lowe, Nadim El-Asmar, and the tight, tenacious team at Mahalo: congrats on the raise, and on putting post-purchase tech where it belongs, front and center.
