Shopic bags $35m investment to bring smart carts to US grocery chains

Smart grocery shopping cart startup, Shopic, has announced a $35 million Series B investment round led by Qualcomm Ventures, bringing its total funding raised to $56 million.

Other participating investors include Vintage Investment Partners and Clal Insurance, together with Shopic’s existing backers IBI Tech Fund, Tal Ventures and Shufersal.

Shopic offers an AI powered clip-on device that turns shopping carts into smart carts.

Utilising computer vision algorithms, it identifies items placed in the cart in real-time, while displaying to shoppers product promotions and discounts on related products.

The system also acts as a self-service checkout interface.

And it provides real-time inventory management and customer behavioural insights for grocers through its analytics dashboard. These reports also include aisle heatmaps, promotion monitoring and new product adoption metrics.

“Today’s consumers are used to friction-free online shopping experiences, but retailers struggle to deliver them for in-store shoppers,” says Raz Golan, CEO and Co-founder at Shopic.

“As the only solution that uses full computer vision rather than barcode scanning, Shopic empowers retailers to not only meet customer expectations but to delight them”.

The Series B investment will be used for global expansion. Shopic’s solutions are currently deployed by several grocers in Europe, the Americas and Israel.

Merav Weinryb, VP at Qualcomm Israel and Managing Director at Qualcomm Ventures Israel and Europe, says: “We support Shopic’s vision of hybrid retail, where the best of online shopping and physical store experiences merge.”

“Its smart cart, which is a compelling and pragmatic smart retail solution is helping enable this future.”

“We were very impressed with the performance of the cart in live supermarkets, demonstrating the potential of AI to transform everyday experiences for everyone.”