The Hamburg-based startup toern has completed a seed funding round worth 1 million euros. The fresh capital is to be used primarily for the further development of the returns platform, the expansion of sales activities in German-speaking countries, and greater market penetration within the Shopify ecosystem.
The round is led by the Hamburg-based investor network Venture League. New shareholders also include Superangels alongside Volker Rofalski, e-commerce heavyweights such as Arndt Brockmann, former Managing Director of Inditex and Esprit, Jens Schumann, co-founder of the online lottery platform Tipp24, and Martina Pfeifer, co-founder of Encourage Ventures. They join a group of existing business angels, which includes Alexander Gedat, former CEO of Marc O’Polo. Many of them know from personal experience that returns are among the biggest cost drivers in e-commerce, but also offer potential for successful marketing.
The founders of toern, Jonas Zeuner and Alena Schneck © toern
A change of direction led to success
toern was founded in 2023 by Alena Schneck (CEO) and Jonas Zeuner (CTO) and initially launched with a peer-to-peer model for returns. The aim was to facilitate returns directly between consumers, thereby avoiding unnecessary transport journeys. In 2025, the company changed course, drawing on its experience with e-commerce businesses that had a significant need for an automated returns solution. This led to the creation of an AI-powered returns management platform, which today digitises the entire process whilst providing retailers with data for better business decisions. Every return contains valuable information on customer needs and purchasing behaviour, from which toern derives specific recommendations for action. The startup’s clients include the fashion brand Saint Sass – best known for its tights – the home fragrance provider iPuro, and 1. FC Köln.
“The fact that experienced investors and industry experts from the fashion and e-commerce sectors are investing in toern is a strong endorsement of our approach. Returns are increasingly being viewed strategically within the retail sector. Our product and our team are well-positioned to automate manual tasks for numerous online shops and to make the post-purchase customer journey more active and positive.”
Alena Schneck, founder and CEO of toern
