Including Leav, SumUp, and ON: Seven retail technology funding rounds you need to know about
RTIH rounds up seven retail systems ventures who have recently secured significant investments in their businesses, including SeeChange Technologies, Birdseye, Myth.AI, and Aria.
1. SeeChange Technologies
SeeChange Technologies, a specialist in retail focused visual AI, has closed Series A funding of £8 million led by TriplePoint, with participation from new investors including Runa Capital and True Capital, and original backer Crane Venture Partners.
SeeChange’s visual AI platform, SeeWare, aims to enhance self-checkout, preempt stockouts, improve safety and reduce loss. It processes video from retailers’ existing hardware and this is deployed and scaled across the retail enterprise.
SeeWare has been piloted and commercially trialed by retail customers and partners including Diebold Nixdorf.
2. Birdseye
Birdsye, a startup that specialises in the retail and e-commerce artificial intelligence sector, has landed a seed investment of $3 million from Drive Capital.
This follows its previous investment, leading a $500,000 pre-seed round earlier this year. Masha Khusid, a partner from Drive Capital, will be joining Birdseye's board of directors.
Birdseye’s technology completes millions of marketing actions to match shoppers with the products they are most likely to be interested in purchasing at any given time and price. This is powered by an AI algorithm trained on vast amounts of retail transaction data.
3. Leav
Leav, a startup in the mobile self-checkout industry, has raised $2.3 million in seed funding, led by Exo10.vc, a venture capital fund steered by serial entrepreneur and investor Nicolas Bouchard, known for founding DuProprio in 1997.
The company’s technology allows customers to scan and pay for items using their mobile devices, eliminating checkout lines.
“We always knew we had total product market fit, so it was natural to get market traction,” says Olivier Roy, Leav’s Co-founder and CEO.
“Now, securing an investment from a prestigious group of renowned entrepreneurs and investors like Exo10.vc not only propels our growth trajectory but also enables us to assemble an exceptional team and instills a heightened sense of confidence in the market, reinforcing their commitment to partnering with Leav. I couldn’t be more proud of our team, and really can’t wait for what 2024 has to bring.”
4. SumUp
British payments firm SumUp, has bagged $306.6 million in a round of funding that values the company north of $8.6 billion.
Sixth Street Growth, the growth arm of global investment firm Sixth Street, led the investment, while existing existing backer Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, FinTech investment firm Fin Capital, and debt financing firm Liquidity Group, also participated.
SumUp plans to use the cash to organically launch more financial services - around the card readers and other Point of Sale tools, it offers the likes of invoicing, loyalty, and business accounts. It’s also looking to expand to more geographies beyond the 36 where it is currently active.
5. ON
ON - formerly GameOn Technology - has announced a $25 million funding round, bringing the total amount raised to $80 million.
Notable participants in the round included Equiam; B3 Capital; Commonwealth Financial Network; and Mirae Asset Venture Investment, which previously co-led the company's Series B.
"ON has been a trailblazer in innovation, turning conversational AI into a potent revenue generating asset. As we embrace our new identity, we are thrilled to embark on a journey that will significantly amplify our influence within the generative AI space," says Alex Beckman, CEO and Co-founder at ON.
"Companies have poured substantial resources into AI research and development, often without a clear path to effective implementation and monetisation. With the ON platform, businesses spanning diverse industries can now confidently establish deeper and more impactful connections with their consumers."
"We are excited to continue to invest in and partner with ON as its rebranding marks an exciting new chapter for the company, positioning it at the forefront of generative AI solutions for brands across various industries," says Justin Kim, Executive Director at Mirae Asset Venture Investment.
"With a fresh vision and a proven track record, ON is poised to redefine how brands harness the power of AI."
6. Aria
French FinTech startup Aria has secured a €15 million funding round to expand its deferred payment infrastructure across the platform economy and B2B marketplaces.
This was led by 13books Capital with participation from Adevinta Ventures, Ankaa Ventures, Otium Capital and angel investors including Laurent Ritter (Purple), Mark Ransford and Guillaume Princen (former Stripe exec).
Aria enables any merchant, B2B marketplace or vertical SaaS company that sells goods and services online and offline to offer their sellers a wide array of payment methods and terms, and get paid instantly — all in a single platform.
It is able to connect with B2B marketplaces, transactional SaaS platforms and ERP systems to distribute early payment of supplier invoices and offers deferred payment options for end-clients via its API.
7. Myth.AI
Myth.AI has closed a $1.3 million funding round to help drive operations in the UK and explore new markets.
Founded in Turkey, the startup was originally created to help the founder’s own high-end fashion line Women & Women, but now offers a generative AI solution that uses visual or text prompts to streamline the design of new and unique patterns for brands across Europe.
The company claims that its technology drastically reduces the time is takes to create bespoke designs, along with helping to create a more sustainable design and production process through reducing the need for swatch samples, which ultimately end up in landfill.
Brands in the textile design industry such as Ratti (Italy), Telater (Spain), Sun Textile, Elyaf Textile, Gama Textile, Zorlu Textile, Halmer Fabric (Turkey) are deploying the technology, along with ceramic industry firm Vitra.
Continue reading…