An AI-powered shopping platform founded by a former Dragons’ Den contestant is looking to raise £2m 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 £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’s James Watt, who has tipped the startup to become ‘the next unicorn’.
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 £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 £250m in funding for more than 200 companies.
In 2009 he successfully appeared on Dragons’ Den at the age of 23 when he asked for £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’s list of ‘Most Influential People’.
“This raise marks a pivotal moment as we scale our platform and deepen our AI capabilities,” he said.
“Agentic commerce isn’t just coming—it’s already here. With this campaign, we’re putting intelligent, conversational shopping into the hands of millions and reshaping the future of online retail.”
Watt added: “Basket is one of the most exciting consumer businesses I’ve seen.
“The product is exceptional, the growth has been explosive, and the market potential is enormous. I’m proud to be backing Lex and the team on this journey.”
You can find more details about the Crowdcube campaign here