Retail Technology Startup Stories Interview: Ross Finman, Founder and CEO at Augmodo

RTIH gets the lowdown on Augmodo, which has developed a real-time inventory and task tracker using wearable SmartBadges to create live 3D store maps. The startup recently raised $5.3 million in seed funding led by Lerer Hippeau, with participation from Dunnhumby Ventures, NewFare Partners and Simple Food Ventures.

RTIH: Tell us about yourself and Augmodo

RF: I grew up in Idaho on a llama farm, did my undergrad at Carnegie Mellon and graduate work at MIT in 3D mapping and computer vision.

My first startup, Escher Reality, was part of Y Combinator’s 2017 class and then later that year, we were acquired by Niantic Labs, creators of the location-based game “Pokémon Go,” as their founding AR acquisition.

Augmodo builds on my passion for AR. It’s already begun to change the retail landscape, and the new advances in AR and spatial computing are about to completely transform the physical world of shopping as we know it.

Our proprietary SmartBadges are powered by a Spatial AI assistant for store associates, which recommends actions and tasks to increase efficiencies, empowering workforces to drive revenue and improve shopping experiences, making store associates even more valuable to their employers.

RTIH: What was the inspiration behind setting the company up?

RF: A few years ago, I got the idea for the business when my wife and I were trying to find baby formula during the critical shortage - we would try and order online for curbside pickup, but would be out of stock when we showed up - sometimes being substituted for skim milk.

We ended up driving around the entire Seattle area looking for it. I couldn’t believe none of the retailers had any idea what was on their shelves.

I knew the solution could be created with spatial AI computing, computer vision and real time 3D store maps – the tech needed to be passive and scalable, yet accurate and quick.

Augmodo uses a SmartBadge that associates wear around their neck to track inventory – it’s very easy-to-deploy, installed in 20 minutes and quick to charge. As associates walk through the store, the SmartBadge captures data that’s sent to retailers and brands in real-time, creating 3D planograms. It is 100 times cheaper than other options out there and collects 10 times more data.

RTIH: What has been the industry reaction thus far?

RF: Reactions have been very positive since it is an easy to adopt solution - our badges are currently in a pilot testing phase with several stores and brands and we’ve gotten a lot of interest from investors.

Our latest round of seed funding raised $5.3M, led by Lerer Hippeau, with participation from Dunnhumby Ventures, NewFare Partners and Simple Food Ventures.

We also just won the Grocery Shop startup competition - we were honoured to be chosen among so many smart startups.

RTIH: What has been your biggest challenge/setback?

RF: We had to pivot multiple times to narrow in on the right form factor to make adoption easy.

While we believe smartglasses will be impactful in retail (due to being hands free for physical work), they require too much training and change management for adoption. We also tested simple systems on a hat, but finally decided it was easiest for associates to adopt a SmartBadge™.

RTIH: What are the biggest challenges facing retailers right now?

RF: Lost revenue is a big one - retailers lose $1.75 trillion in revenue worldwide due to out-of-stocks, preventable returns and overstocks. Our tech helps curtail this 11.7% of lost revenue from store inefficiencies and data disconnects.

Other options are time, labour and cost-intensive and unlike other disruptive and expensive solutions, Augmodo is easy to scale and 100x cheaper than alternatives - while requiring no operational changes.

Retail associates also have a tough job, and Augmodo makes their lives easier by helping them save time, track inventory and collect shelf data, cutting down on tedious tasks without requiring any additional training. They simply walk the aisles as they normally do with our SmartBadges, as the store is scanned for them.

RTIH: What's the best question about your company or the market asked of you recently by a.) an investor and b.) a customer?

RF: Investor: “Everyone has been betting on automation to replace people, why do you think ‘augmenting’ them is better?”

We view it is easier to improve the current manual workflows than completely redo store processes entirely in dynamic front of store environments. Computers are good at certain tasks, and people are good at others, we just go for the best of both worlds, all while making associates more valuable.

Customer: “If the associates wearing the SmartBadges are collecting the store insights and are the ones who fix the problem, can they just fix it then?” This is a great question because it ties into the idea of an augmented workforce. Collecting insights today, but with a real-time spatial AI assistant, we can help associates.

RTIH: What can we expect to see from Augmodo during the remainder of 2024 and into 2025?

RF: We are excited to announce retail and brand partnerships, continue expanding pilots and building the business. Next year we are expanding to more retailers, stores and ecosystem partners.