# Pax

> Pax is an AI-native customs broker that automates and maximizes U.S. tariff refunds through duty drawback - the CBP program that lets companies recover up to 99% of import duties on goods that are later re-exported, manufactured for export, or destroyed. Founded by MIT PhD Penny Chen and repeat founder Chris Le, Pax pitches itself as 'TurboTax for duty drawback,' using LLM-powered document extraction plus deterministic optimization algorithms to file audit-ready claims in weeks instead of the industry-standard 9-12 months, while recovering roughly 15% more than legacy providers. The company raised a $4.5M seed round in 2025 and is a Y Combinator Summer 2024 company.

- **Founded:** 2023
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founders:** Penny Chen (Co-Founder & CEO), Chris Le (Co-Founder & CTO)
- **Team size:** ~20 employees (10 reported at YC S24)
- **Products:** AI Duty Drawback Engine, Trade Compliance Control Tower, Claim Optimization & Tracking
- **Notable:** Raised $4.5M seed round in 2025 led by Initialized Capital., Selected for Y Combinator's Summer 2024 batch., Reduced duty drawback claim timelines from an industry-standard 9-12 months to roughly 3-6 weeks.

## Products & services

- **AI Duty Drawback Engine** — End-to-end automation of duty drawback claims: extracts data from unstructured trade documents (bills of lading, invoices, PDFs), matches imports to exports, calculates refunds with deterministic optimization algorithms, and files electronically with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
- **Trade Compliance Control Tower** — A platform positioning itself for tariff recovery, customs audits, FTZ, reconciliation, and post-entry compliance - keeping audit-ready records and claim trails in one place.
- **Claim Optimization & Tracking** — Real-time claim status dashboard, HTS classification validation, refund maximization, and audit-ready documentation designed to recover roughly 15% more than legacy software.

## Achievements

- Raised $4.5M seed round in 2025 led by Initialized Capital.
- Selected for Y Combinator's Summer 2024 batch.
- Reduced duty drawback claim timelines from an industry-standard 9-12 months to roughly 3-6 weeks.
- Claims to identify ~15% more refundable duty than legacy software providers.
- Coverage in Sacra, Cherubic Ventures, Rippling, and Taiwanese tech press (Meet Global / Business Next).

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — Pax announced a $4.5M seed funding round to scale AI-powered duty drawback and tariff refunds.
- **2025-01** — Positioned itself as an AI-native trade compliance control tower amid rising U.S. tariffs, expanding beyond drawback into audits, FTZ, and post-entry compliance.
- **2024-06** — Joined Y Combinator's Summer 2024 batch.

## Links

- Website: https://paxai.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/getpaxai

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/pax
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-03