“Over 90% of eligible importers don’t apply for tariff refunds … it’s too painful,” wrote Justin Sherlock, co-founder and CEO of Caspian. “The data lives in too many systems, the paperwork is brutal, and there’s no easy way to forecast or manage it.”
Sherlock and co-founder Matt Ebeweber spent years at Flexport watching manufacturers and retailers struggle with the complexity of duty drawback: a process that allows companies to reclaim tariffs on imported goods that are later re-exported. The paperwork, regulatory interpretation, and data matching often spanned years and multiple systems, making it unmanageable for all but the largest players.
In 2024, they left to build Caspian, a startup focused on automating this process through AI and modern software infra
PlayerZero Raises $20M to Catch Bugs Before AI Ships Them
Mukundan Sivaraj
