Serve First

What Serve First does

Serve First, trading legally as Serve First CX Limited, is a UK-based AI-driven customer experience (CX) and performance management platform founded in 2023 by Erol Ayvaz. The company combines five traditionally separate CX functions into a single integrated system: operational audits, customer feedback surveys, mystery shopping programmes, brand audits, and AI-powered sentiment analysis. Its technology stack includes feedback terminals with NFC tap-and-tell capabilities, AI-powered conversational surveys that adapt to respondent answers, real-time sentiment analysis of open-text feedback, and a role-based dashboard that delivers personalised insights from C-suite to frontline staff. Additional modules include Client Connect (customer journey workflow automation) and a Martyn's Law compliance solution co-developed with United Outcomes for UK venue safety regulation.

The company operates a SaaS subscription model with annual quote-based enterprise pricing, supplemented by mystery shopping services (where independent shoppers earn £4-£40 per assignment). Revenue streams include platform subscriptions, feedback terminal hardware/software deployment, mystery shopping professional services, and audit/compliance subscriptions. Go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales targeting multi-site operators across five primary verticals: Facilities Management, Retail, Hospitality, Health & Wellness, and Franchise Businesses. The company has disclosed customers including The Body Shop, Topps Tiles, Brentford Football Club, Aramark, Elior Group, and Alphega Pharmacy (a 2,500+ location chain across seven European countries).

As of April 2026, Serve First reports annual recurring revenue exceeding £2 million, having nearly doubled since a £4.5 million seed round in June 2025. A £5 million follow-on Series A from Pembroke VCT and the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II (Mercia Ventures) brought total funding to £9.6 million. Operational headquarters are in Milton Keynes with a registered office in London. The company employs 1-10 people and is preparing to scale sales operations through a new Chief Revenue Officer appointment.

Name

Serve First

Legal name

Serve First CX Limited

Website

https://servefirst.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Serve First is a UK-based AI-powered customer experience platform that combines feedback surveys, mystery shopping, brand audits, compliance monitoring, and sentiment analysis into a single integrated system for multi-site enterprise operators across retail, hospitality, facilities management, healthcare, and franchise verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Customer Experience Management Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Retail-Catalog & Mail-Order Houses (5961)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHDAAAGAA

E-commerce & Retail Recommendation Engines

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning/Recommender Systems & Personalization

Keywords

• Customer experience platform
• Mystery shopping services
• Feedback management software
• Operational audit tools
• Brand compliance monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. SaaS Platform Subscription: Annual recurring revenue from AI-powered CX platform subscription. The company reports ARR exceeding £2 million with near doubling of revenue since June 2025.
2. Feedback Terminal Hardware & Software: Revenue from deployment of feedback terminals, smiley face buttons, and associated software. Includes custom survey solutions and AI-powered conversational survey tools.
3. Mystery Shopping Services: Mystery shopping programmes providing objective measurement across sites with payment ranging from £4 to £40 per assignment plus reimbursement for shopping costs.
4. Audit & Compliance Solutions: Operational audits, compliance checks, and quality assurance services for multi-site operators including digital checklists, site inspection tools, and brand audits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Serve First sells an AI-driven customer experience and performance management platform that combines compliance tracking, customer feedback surveys, mystery shopping, brand audits, and sentiment analysis into a single unified system for enterprise multi-site operators. The platform includes physical feedback terminals (smiley face buttons with NFC "Tap and Tell") and AI-powered software modules (Audits, Client Connect, Mystery Shopping, Martyn's Law Compliance) that translate customer feedback data into tailored action plans via real-time role-based dashboards. Revenue is generated through annual SaaS subscriptions and pay-per-assignment mystery shopping services sold to brands and operators in retail, hospitality, facilities management, healthcare, and franchise sectors.

Product overview

Serve First offers an AI-driven customer experience and performance management platform that operates as a unified system combining multiple modules. The core platform integrates five main products: Audits (operational and site inspection tools), Feedback Terminals (smiley face terminals for capturing in-the-moment reactions), Client Connect (customer journey enhancement and workflow automation), Mystery Shopping (secret shopping programs), and Martyn's Law Compliance (a compliance solution developed with United Outcomes for UK venue safety legislation). All modules feed into a single AI-powered dashboard that translates customer insights into actionable steps for teams across the organization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Serve First Platform An AI-driven customer experience and performance management platform that combines compliance tracking, customer feedback surveys, mystery shopping, brand audits, and sentiment analysis into one unified system for enterprise multi-site operators.
• Feedback Terminals Smiley face feedback terminals and buttons that capture in-the-moment customer reactions in physical spaces, featuring AI-powered survey solutions and sentiment analysis with real-time alerts, contactless NFC Tap and Tell technology, and omnichannel integration across email, QR codes, till receipts, and NFC channels.
• Audits Operational audit and site inspection tools that digitally track inspection outcomes and standard adherence across all locations, supporting brand guidelines, cleanliness, safety, and visual merchandising compliance.
• Client Connect Customer journey enhancement and workflow automation tool that captures, understands, and acts on all client touchpoints across the entire customer journey, with role-based insights and account-level tracking.
• Mystery Shopping Mystery shopping programme that enables businesses to see their brand from the customer's perspective through tailored programmes focused on the moments that matter most, with shoppers paid £4–£40 per assignment plus shopping cost reimbursement.
• Martyn's Law Compliance Compliance solution developed in partnership with United Outcomes to help venues and event operators assess and improve preparedness for terrorist threats under UK Martyn's Law legislation, including 60-second tier assessment, step-by-step compliance guidance, and compliance-ready documentation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40% reduction in negative reviews in under six months
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• United OutcomescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2025Joint partnership to create a risk assessment and planning app for Martyn's Law compliance. United Outcomes brings risk and security expertise while Serve First provides customer experience expertise. Solution includes 60-second tier assessment and compliance-ready documentation.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Medallia: Enterprise customer experience management platform offering feedback collection, sentiment analysis, and analytics. Larger and broader portfolio player that overlaps with Serve First's CX platform but is not specialised in multi-site, in-store, and mystery shopping workflows.
• Qualtrics: Experience management platform covering customer, employee, product, and brand experience. Directly competes with Serve First's customer feedback and sentiment analysis capabilities but operates at much larger scale across all enterprise verticals.
• MaritzCX: Enterprise customer experience platform with feedback collection, analytics, and mystery shopping capabilities. Comparable CX platform offering but typically serves larger enterprise accounts than Serve First's mid-market focus.

Direct peers

• Trustpilot: Consumer review and customer feedback platform widely used by retail and hospitality brands. Comparable to Serve First's customer feedback survey and sentiment analysis modules but more focused on public reviews rather than integrated compliance and mystery shopping.
• InMoment: Customer experience intelligence platform combining surveys, social listening, and operational data. Directly comparable to Serve First's integrated CX platform approach, particularly for multi-location operators in retail and hospitality.
• CustomerGauge: B2B customer experience platform focused on account-level feedback and NPS programs. Comparable SaaS business model and target market of multi-site enterprises seeking to operationalise CX insights.
• AskNicely: Customer feedback platform focused on frontline service businesses and multi-location operators. Closely comparable to Serve First's role-based dashboards and real-time customer feedback loops in retail, hospitality, and FM.
• HappyOrNot: Provider of physical smiley-face feedback terminals for in-store customer satisfaction measurement. Highly comparable hardware product to Serve First's feedback terminals, serving similar multi-site retail and hospitality customers.
• Service Management Group (SMG): Customer experience management and mystery shopping provider serving multi-unit restaurant, retail, and grocery operators. Directly comparable service offering including mystery shopping, brand audits, and operational feedback.
• Intouch Insight: Mystery shopping, customer feedback, and operational audit provider for multi-location operators. Closely comparable to Serve First's mystery shopping and brand audit modules, serving similar retail and hospitality verticals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/servefirstcx
• Xtwitter.com/servefirst
• YouTubeyoutube.com/servefirst
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/serve-first-cx

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Serve First