YC post application update

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Overview

As I wait to hear back, I wanted to share a clearer behind the scenes summary of what Cüte actually is today. I know recent batches are very focused on AI products, so I wanted to give a clear view of how AI fits into the product and why it actually matters here.

I use AI everywhere to move faster, but underneath it all is real infrastructure work, with AI helping plan and speed things up instead of treating it like a five minute prompt could build Cüte. All this technical noise exists for one goal only: making second hand as frictionless as possible.

AI is used to meaningfully enhance the user experience, especially around speed and trust. It understands photos, suggests categories, improves search, and removes the tiny bits of friction that usually make selling used items painful.

But the foundation is everything underneath: payments, logistics, closed groups, trust, onboarding, and the full marketplace architecture.

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Cüte AI

• AI image classification.
  • Google Gemini on Vertex AI extracts structured attributes (brand, size, color, condition, category) from photos
  • Chose Vertex AI for São Paulo servers (latency matters in Brazil)
  • Reduces listing time from 5 minutes to 30 seconds
• WhatsApp AI chatbot. Conversational AI interface for listing creation, answering seller questions, and guiding users through the marketplace. Processes natural language inputs and integrates with our AI image classification.
• Vector embeddings for semantic search. Automatic embedding generation for all content on the site. Supports natural language queries and reverse image search. No manual keyword tagging required.
• AI-powered trust & safety.
  • Counterfeit detection
  • Stock photo filtering
  • Pricing anomaly detection
  • Adult content filtered out
• Contextual AI assistant (future development). Inspired by Google I/O's demo, building an assistant that navigates the marketplace, answers questions, and guides users through transactions with full context awareness.

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Cüte data

Behind the product is a complex database architecture with curated data for the Brazilian market:

• 65+ Postgres tables: Supporting the full marketplace lifecycle from listing to sale, delivery, and payouts.
• 5,000+ curated second-hand brands: Hand-selected brands that match Brazilian consumer preferences and local market demand.
• 2,500+ structured categories: Hierarchical category system fully translated into multiple languages, optimized for the Brazilian market.
• EAV attribute system: 49 option groups with 870+ attribute values for flexible, category-specific product attributes (sizes, materials, specs, etc.).
• Brazilian logistics providers: Correios, Loggi, Lalamove, 99 Delivery, and Uber Direct.

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Cüte item life-cycle

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Cüte tech

• WhatsApp chatbot: In Brazil, WhatsApp is the internet. Our bot creates listings from a single photo. Live POC with AI auto-classification processing real sellers.
• Real-time infrastructure: Custom WebSocket server on Fly.io for chat, live updates, and item lifecycle notifications (items listed → items sold → items shipped → order completed).
• Payment orchestration: Complex Pagar.me integration favoring Pix (Brazil's instant payment system) for both payments and withdrawals. Handles split payments, escrow, and automated seller payouts.
• Transactional workflows: Email automation and notification system via Resend.
• Next.js 16 with Cache Components: Active migration to the latest Next.js with granular caching at component/function level.
• Internationalization: Fully internationalized (ES, PT, EN) and ready for launch.

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Cüte apps

• Web app (apps/web) ↗: Main Next.js 16 marketplace application.
• Admin platform (apps/web/app/(admin)) ↗: Multi-role admin system for catalog, users, delivery, payouts, and brand assets.
• Cüte docs (apps/docs, this site) ↗: Engineering documentation with semantic search.
• Cüte brand guidelines (apps/brand) ↗: Internal design system and component hub.
• Socket server (apps/socket): Custom WebSocket server on Fly.io for real-time messaging.
• Email (apps/email): Transactional email templates and preview environment.
• ngrok (apps/ngrok): Development tunneling for local webhook testing.