10 more promising retail technology ventures
RTIH recently brought you 10 cool retail tech startups to watch in 2018. The listicle was a huge hit (it currently stands as one of our most popular articles of 2018), so here comes the inevitable sequel. Keep your eyes peeled for these 10 disruptive ventures…
Ubamarket
Ubamarket’s white label mobile shopping solution is launching in Warner’s Budgens stores across Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. A UK-wide deployment is set to take place in association with payment solutions supplier HTEC, part of Universe Group, whose portfolio of stores includes Morrisons, Budgens, Nisa and Spar. London and Manchester are next in line after the aforementioned first roll-out, which follows a trial phase at Budgens, Moreton in Marsh.
Catchoom
Catchoom recently launched a new fashion-specific AI solution.
The venture says that DeepProducts helps retailers boost SEO and save operational costs thanks to its rich automated product descriptions. It also provides visual recommendations to customers based on similar-looking items. DeepProducts is able to classify items and provide relevant results down to the most sophisticated details, such as neck styles or shoe heel type.
Omnifi
Omnifi is a specialist digital agency, “creating better connected spaces with forward thinking clients since 2014”. Customers include cocktail bar specialist Be At One who teamed with Omnifi to relaunch its digital presence.
Geoblink
Geoblink, a location intelligence provider, is a Spanish venture who Bloomberg cited last year as ‘one of the promising startups in the world’. It is now expanding into the UK following some significant successes. More on that when RTIH interviews CEO and Founder, Jaime Sanchez-Laulhe, coming soon!
DeepBlue Technology
Japanese retailer, Aeon, is set to work with Chinese startup, DeepBlue Technology, which counts Alibaba Group as an investor.
The venture has developed a smart store system called Take and Go, tapping the likes of fusion sensors, machine learning algorithms and biometric security technology. Aeon will invest $1 million, taking a 65% stake. It is planning to use DeepBlue's tech to develop its own unstaffed small-format stores as well as smart shopping malls.
BotNation
BotNation creates chatbots on messaging apps, voice apps and websites. It has been selected by Arsenal for its Innovation Lab programme, helping the football club provide support with purchases on the ArsenalDirect e-commerce store. The service is currently used by 700 companies in 53 countries.
The Good Till Company
The Good Till Company aims to disrupt the legacy PoS technology market with a solution that combines SaaS-based sales, analytics and management capabilities with iPad hardware. Working alongside integration partners such as Xero, Quickbooks and Woo-commerce, the venture, which launched in 2014, has built a customer base of over 1,200 outlets, including Regus, Philip Morris, Northampton Saints Rugby Club, Cafe2U and Royal British Legion.
GrokStyle
The company launched in 2015, based on research conducted in Cornell University’s Computer Science Department by founders Dr. Sean Bell and Prof. Kavita Bala. It was selected as one of the 100 most promising AI companies in the world in 2017 by CB Insights and won the 2016 LDV Vision Summit Entrepreneurial Challenge.
WoraPay
We all hate queues, but Vaidas Adomauskas really hates them. So much so that he co-founded WoraPay to address this ever present in-store problem. Check out our interview with him here.
Yoti
Yoti is on a mission to become the world’s trusted identity platform. “The current identity system is outdated and broken,” CEO and co-founder, Robin Tombs, recently told RTIH.
If you think we’ve missed any promising startups, let us know: scott.thompson@retailtechinnovationhub.com
