DocUnlock, a startup founded in 2023, has raised $3 million in pre-seed funding to automate the tedious and manual process of customs brokerage, a crucial step in the importation of goods into the US. The company's AI-powered platform aims to revolutionize the industry by freeing customs brokers from mundane tasks, allowing them to focus on high-value tasks that require their domain expertise.

The customs brokerage process is a complex and time-consuming task that involves filling out paperwork and declaring goods to US customs. Currently, many large importers either build their own internal methods or outsource the process to customs brokers, who then spend hours manually filling out forms. DocUnlock's platform integrates with a customs broker's email, automatically forwarding relevant emails and documents, and uses AI to aggregate unstructured data to fill out the necessary forms.

The idea for DocUnlock was born out of co-founder Ned Cartmell's experience at Flexport, where he struggled to find a solution to the problem. Cartmell and his co-founder Sepehr Fakour noticed an opportunity to leverage AI advancements in 2022 and met with numerous customs brokers to validate their experience. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with one broker even pleading with them to find a solution.

Since its founding, DocUnlock has seen strong growth, with a 100% retention rate and significant word-of-mouth growth. The company's platform has the potential to disrupt the sprawling customs broker market, which includes several thousand companies in the US and abroad. With over $4.1 trillion worth of goods imported into the US alone in 2024, the market opportunity is substantial.

DocUnlock's $3 million pre-seed funding round was led by a mix of VCs, including GTMFund and Barrel Ventures, as well as angel investors such as Nicolas Dessaigne and Julien Lemoine, co-founders of Algolia. The funding will be used to further develop the platform and expand its customer base.

The company's mission is to automate the tedious aspects of a customs broker's job, allowing them to focus on using their domain expertise to navigate the constantly changing field of customs regulations. As Cartmell noted, "It's something that people really know nothing about... but it's touching everything. Every time anything enters or leaves any country, there's this process that happens."

With its innovative platform and significant funding, DocUnlock is poised to make a significant impact on the customs brokerage industry, freeing professionals to focus on high-value tasks and improving the efficiency of the importation process as a whole.