SAN FRANCISCO, August 13, 2026 — Clarity Systems said it has closed a $4.4 million seed round led by LMnT Ventures, with participation from Regeneration VC, Humba Ventures and Massive Technology Ventures.
The company’s AI-powered scanning system inspects returned and received products in three seconds or less without opening the package, enabling retailers to detect counterfeits, product swaps, missing components and other forms of return fraud by comparing items against the original manufacturer profile.
How the system fights returns fraud
Clarity’s technology analyzes the contents of boxes much like an airport X-ray scanner identifies luggage without unpacking it. The system’s imaging hardware and AI models instantly detect anomalies such as counterfeit goods, product swaps and manipulation, allowing retailers to verify returns and incoming inventory without manual inspection.
Clarity Systems was founded by Andy Ruben, Darrell Whitelaw and Sender Shamiss, described as seasoned veterans of the retail and returns industry. Within the year, Clarity said it has already signed on major national retailers for their returns and receiving operations.
According to Appriss Retail and Deloitte, returns fraud cost retailers an estimated $103 billion in 2024, representing more than 15% of all returned merchandise. The company says many retailers have reacted with broad return restrictions that create friction for honest shoppers; Clarity positions its solution as a faster, more precise alternative that preserves the customer experience while reducing losses.
Andy Ruben, Cofounder and CEO of Clarity, said: “Retail fraud has become a professional industry, run at scale against the returns counter and the receiving dock, and most defenses were built for a shoplifting era. We built Clarity to catch it the moment it enters the building.”
Jeff Miller, Founder and Managing Partner of LMnT Ventures, said: “Return fraud is a stubborn, massive problem hiding in plain sight, costing the world’s largest brands billions and ultimately leaving everyday consumers to foot the bill. And it’s a problem that the founders, each with extensive experience in the retail and returns world have had to endure for decades. With Clarity’s advanced imaging hardware and proprietary AI models, this chronic problem is finally tractable. Importantly, this isn’t AI theory- it’s already happening on Clarity systems. This is a problem whose time has come and this is the team to crack it.”
