Overview
Laurent Mainil is co-founder and CEO of Markmi, a Ghent company that sells an AI-driven price markdown assistant to fashion retailers. The product recommends how deeply and when to discount end-of-season stock, forecasts how price points will affect sales volume, stock and margin, and lets teams configure markdowns for thousands of products at once under their own business rules. Markmi BV was registered as a Belgian private limited company on 20 February 2025 and works from Rodelijvekensstraat 28 in Ghent, the address it shares with the data and AI agency Crunch Analytics. Markmi was spun off from Crunch Analytics, where the markdown work with fashion retailers began during the COVID period and ran for four years before the spin-off. On 2 April 2025 Markmi announced it had raised 1.1 million euro to expand in Belgium, the Netherlands, the Nordics and the United States. Named users include C&A, G-Star, ZEB, Schoenen Torfs, Zizzi, Scotch & Soda, New Yorker, Gina Tricot, MS Mode and e5. At C&A the software covers around 5,000 items and 170,000 markdown decision points across 17 countries. Mainil studied at Ghent University between 2006 and 2011.
Mainil studied at Ghent University from 2006 to 2011, writing a master thesis titled "Designing and evaluating an optimal business model for a mobile application provider", and taking part in the Flanders Youth Society for Entrepreneurship. He spent four years working with fashion retailers under the Crunch Analytics banner before Markmi launched. Crunch Analytics is a Ghent data and AI agency with a second office in Rotterdam, founded by Louis-Philippe Kerkhove, who is its CTO and who is listed as technology advisor at Markmi. Markmi was spun off from Crunch Analytics as a separate tech company and registered on 20 February 2025. Mainil is co-founder and CEO. The team around him includes Benoit Germonpré as head of product, Nils Roelandt as head of marketing and communications, Kenny Denolf as senior algorithm engineer and Céline Loots as customer success manager. He is based in the Ghent Metropolitan Area.
As founder and CEO of Markmi, Laurent drives product development, sales, and growth strategy for the platform, targeting marketers and marketing teams.
Career history
In the news
- The high street isn't dead. 𝘐𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘰𝘺 𝘎𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸. At last week's TheIndustry.fashion Summit, Mary Portas OBEs & Julian Dunkerton's talks hit right in the feels.. Somewhere along the way, #highstreets forgot they were more than a place to push product. They used to be places of cultural discovery. Of identity. Of belonging. Both stories showed what happens when you remember that. Take #Superdry. When Julian Dunkerton came back, he saw the chance to turn it into
- Sure. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘦. 🎲 When I opened our Think Tank at PI - Fashion's Technology Community RE:PLAN yesterday, I wanted the audience to understand one crucial message.. Markdowns in fashion retail have become more important than ever. So hold your nerve, and treat them with care. Or in more precise terms: The full-price window in fashion retail keeps getting smaller. The audience in our session unequivocally agreed. It starts later, because deliveries take more time. It ends earlier,
- We were treated like royalty, in the house where the King of Belgium has his own room.. Yesterday, we co-hosted the first FashionTech Innovation Evening at the Residence of the Belgian Ambassador in #London, together with merx and Contour Lab. An unbelievable location. Incredible art on the walls, Tintin's rocket on the sofa table. We were a tad nervous. Would UK people be eager to listen to Belgian startups and their view on the industry? 'Cause, let's face it: entering a new market is hard. Yet people love a
- Next week we're a partner of TheIndustry.fashion Summit in London. With a more hopeful message than these headlines. One of taking back control.. Because the headlines are tough. No denying that. Retail is ranked Europe's most distressed sector. It pays the highest effective tax rate in the UK economy. Employment costs are up, retail jobs at a record low. Restructuring lawyers at Weil expect a clear gap between retailers who can absorb all this and those with "much less room for manoeuvre". It is most definitely not a cheerful
- Lots of early markdowns on UK 🇬🇧 high streets. We saw it. Gavin Abery saw it too. This week we talk about it in FashionUnited.. Gavin, founder of HIF Group and a versed Head of Merchandising, did not expect so many retailers to be deep in markdown. In September, at 24 degrees 🌡️, with the wool coats barely in the windows. He started on the #Next shop floor, went on to Levi's #Dockers and Original Penguin, and now advises retailers on commercial strategy. We asked him what is going on, and what a merchandiser should do about it
- Last year, we told our Markmi.ai story in Gothenburg 🇸🇪 to a room full of strangers. This year, I looked up and saw familiar faces.. 🙏 Having Ingvar Larsson and Linda Ahlström of MQ Marqet AB in the room gave me confidence. They're one of three Scandinavian retailers we work with today. And seeing them nod along while I spoke? That felt good :)🔥 As I sat on the panel about where AI creates value today, I was happy to be the voice looking especially beyond generative AI. Because the value we create only shows up when two things
- Our first time in the Nordics? Gothenburg 🇸🇪, last May, with the Evidi Sweden team taking the best care of us. This week, we're back.. One month after we officially launched Markmi.ai. Sweaters still crisp, brochures fresh from the printer, Belgian chocolate in the bag. First time on stage up north, with no idea how the room would react. First time telling our story off screen. Plenty of jokes about Ghent Volvos and drama at IKEA :) But mostly, we listened. How do retailers on this side of Europe look at markdowns.. ànd at what
- With many fashion players experiencing a tough year, Schoenen Torfs just closed another record year 🇧🇪 In today's papers Lise Conix explains: She describes the stores, and the fashion offer. More choice for customers who are already hooked, some at higher margins, a broad catalog. Selling trust. But the store is the part you see. Warm, calm, familiar. What you don't see is the rhythm behind it: "Our strength over the past 75 years is that we hold on very tightly to who we are: our DNA, our values, our social engagement and
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