An AI-powered shopping platform founded by a former Dragons鈥� Den contestant聽 is looking to raise 拢2m聽 through a crowdfunding campaign.
London-based Basket was founded by serial entrepreneur Lex Deak and has already acquired over 250,000 users since its 2023 launch.
Now he’s trying to raise on 拢2m on Crowdcube and says that the move marks a major milestone in its evolution toward agentic, AI-driven, and conversational commerce.
The company has already attracted notable backers, including Groupon founder Eric Lefkofsky and BrewDog鈥檚 James Watt, who has tipped the startup to become 鈥榯he next unicorn鈥�.聽
Since launching in 2023, the business has seen rapid, organic growth with more than 10 million items saved, hundreds of thousands of purchases tracked and 57 per cent monthly repeat usage rate.
Basket is described as a purpose-built shopping assistant, letting users curate products from any online store into one universal list, delivering real-time price drop alerts, stock updates and AI-powered recommendations.
It has already raised over 拢4.5m from investors and Deak is a multi-exit entrepreneur with a background in FinTech, marketing tech, and eCommerce.
He previously founded QVentures, which facilitated over 拢250m in funding for more than 200 companies.聽
In 2009 he successfully appeared on Dragons’ Den at the age of 23 when he asked for 拢20,000 for a 20 per cent stake of his then business Family Fridge, eventually accepting an offer from Dragon Julie Meyer.
He went on to win multiple business awards, including the Young Entrepreneur of the Year by EN magazine, Rising Star by Start Up Awards UK and named on City AM鈥檚 list of 鈥楳ost Influential People鈥�.
鈥淭his raise marks a pivotal moment as we scale our platform and deepen our AI capabilities,鈥� he said.
鈥淎gentic commerce isn鈥檛 just coming鈥攊t鈥檚 already here. With this campaign, we鈥檙e putting intelligent, conversational shopping into the hands of millions and reshaping the future of online retail.鈥�
Watt added: 鈥淏asket is one of the most exciting consumer businesses I鈥檝e seen.聽
鈥淭he product is exceptional, the growth has been explosive, and the market potential is enormous. I鈥檓 proud to be backing Lex and the team on this journey.鈥�
You can find more details about the Crowdcube campaign