Maine startup develops AI tool for mom-and-pop convenience stores
Nishant Patel, left, and Sanjay Patel are business partners who developed Storeveu, an AI-driven system that helps small retailers track inventory and forecast demand. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)
MECHANIC FALLS — For centuries small shopkeepers have tracked inventory by hand, reconciling what’s been sold with what’s still on the shelves and deciding whether to restock.
Even with computers, it remains a painstaking process that requires staffing, time and some comfort with financial risk. Managing all that can be challenging amid rising costs, a tight labor market and narrow profit margins.
A Maine startup aims to ease the struggle with a low-cost, AI-powered system that’s geared toward independent convenience, grocery and liquor stores and other small retailers. It’s one of 97 AI-related projects that the state’s technology incubator has helped to finance since 2020.
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Storeveu, built by Fortune Technology Inc., allows storeowners to track products from delivery invoices through front-end sales in a system that’s constantly updating, said Nishant Patel, co-owner and software designer.
The software also forecasts consumer demand and recommends price drops before expiration dates make products unsellable.
“If an item is selling, it predicts how many are needed in the coming weeks,” said Patel, of Lewiston. “If an item isn’t selling, it suggests creating a promotional sale.”
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Most convenience stores in the U.S. are owned by companies with 10 or fewer shops, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores. Patel sees strong potential demand among those some 95,000 businesses.
“Those owners rarely get software built for them,” Patel said.
Nishant Patel, co-owner of Fortune Technology Inc., works in his Mechanic Falls office. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
Tailored to each store’s needs, the software runs on Future Technology’s servers rather than a third-party AI service and uses only data that storeowners provide, Patel said.
Patel began developing the system in January and says it is about 75% accurate. In July, the company got a $30,000 business innovation grant from the Maine Technology Institute to push it closer to 100%.
“Any product line (Storeveu) is unsure of is flagged for a person to check,” Patel said. “The (AI) training is still underway and the number is improving.”
AI PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE STATE
Interest in AI has grown over the last several years, and the state has seen a steady uptick in businesses seeking help to harness its capabilities.
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Only three, or just under 4% of applications for IT-related funding from the Maine Technology Institute referenced AI in 2020, compared with 138, or 41% of applications in 2026, said President Brian Whitney. The nonprofit was founded and funded by the Legislature to foster innovation.
“We fund projects that solve a technical or scientific challenge,” Whitney said via email. “We are looking for things that are meaningfully different from existing alternatives. We also look to fund projects that have the potential to create quality jobs and generate revenue growth in Maine.”
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Whitney said about 60% of AI-related awards have gone to projects intended to serve a public good, such as healthcare, education, language access and public safety; and about 20% stated an explicit social mission or are a public benefit corporation.
Besides Future Technology, other recipients include Alivo Inc. of South Portland, for a home service sales platform ($75,000); Restoration Medicine Inc. of Portland, for a digital health platform to address widespread delays and inaccuracies in pelvic health diagnoses ($30,000); Bluey Technologies Inc. of Portland, for a personal safety app that detects potential risks and connects users to help without constant tracking or data sharing ($50,000); CourseStorm Inc. of Orono, to upgrade and market a class registration platform ($250,000); and ConnectCapable Inc., a Michigan-based company contracted by the Maine Department of Transportation for a traffic management system ($100,000).
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Whitney, a member of the Maine Artificial Intelligence Task Force, acknowledged that the technology raises some concerns and risks.
“During this period of rapid and profound change, the pursuit of potentially transformative opportunities from AI must be navigated through the novel or still unknown risks it creates,” a 2025 report by the task force states.
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“MTI is not supporting hyper-scalers building out data centers,” Whitney said. “Most of the companies MTI awards have fewer than 50 employees, but they grow over time and together they create high quality, Maine-based jobs and generate significant economic activity for our state.”
FAST-GROWING CUSTOMER BASE
Patel, 26, began developing Storeveu shortly after graduating from Northeastern University with a master’s in information systems.
His business partner is Sanjay Patel, 45, who owns more than a dozen liquor and convenience stores across Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, including Dad’s Place in Mechanic Falls and Phippsburg Center Store. Both are from Gujarat, India, but they aren’t related.
They fine-tuned Storeveu based on Sanjay Patel’s many years of retail experience. They also added video features for store security, theft protection, customer service monitoring and sales of alcohol, tobacco and lottery scratch tickets. He has installed the system in his eight independent stores.
“It has a lot of features that other point-of-sale systems don’t have,” said Patel, who lives in North Andover, Massachusetts. “It’s helping out bigtime. It gives you a clear picture of your sales.”
Nishant Patel, left, and Sanjay Patel are business partners in Storeveu, an AI-driven system that helps small retailers track sales and inventory. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
Storeveu is also a lot more affordable than larger providers, he said, starting at $600 per store for the hardware and $49.99 per month for the software and customer support. One estimate he received from a larger provider was $30,000 to start, he said.
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Fortune Technology already has 10 employees servicing 50 stores that are using Storeveu, up from 15 stores when they applied for the grant, and more storeowners are contacting them daily.
The business partners say they are working seven days a week, promoting the system and onboarding new customers.
Last month, they set up a table at the Navratri gathering in Foxboro, Massachusetts, a nine-night Hindu music and dance festival that attracts thousands of people.
“We were there on the eighth night — the most auspicious night — and we got 50 leads,” Nishant Patel said. “Many of them have several stores, so our numbers could grow very quickly.”
Fortune Technology Inc. co-founder Nishant Patel in his office in Mechanic Falls. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
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Tagged: artificial intelligence, immigrants, maine technology institute, retail, technology
Kelley writes about Maine businesses large and small, focusing on economic development, workforce initiatives and the state’s leading business organizations. Her wider experience includes municipal and. More by Kelley Bouchard
