Paris and London based AI powered inventory platform Autone raises $17 million from General Catalyst

Autone, an AI powered platform helping retailers with inventory management, has raised a $17 million Series A funding round led by General Catalyst.

All existing investors from its seed round also reinvested in the Series A. This includes Speedinvest, YCombinator, Seedcamp, 2100VC, Motier, Financière Saint James, and business angels from LVMH, Sephora and Moncler.

The funding will be used to accelerate product development and continue Autone's expansion and hiring across the US and Europe.

CEO Adil Bouhdadi and CTO Harry Glucksmann-Cheslaw met at Alexander McQueen in 2016 where they created a data driven inventory decision platform..

Founded in 2021,  Autone is used by more than 50 global brands like Courreges,  Roberto Cavalli,  Stussy, and Zadig & Voltaire to help them accurately forecast demand, accelerate sales, while minimising waste and cutting time spent on manual tasks.

The latest funding round takes the total raised by the company to more than $20 million and comes less than a year after its seed round.

Bouhdadi says:  “Autone speaks the language of the people using it - not just the C-suite. An intuitive platform that turns passive data into powerful actions A place where retail professionals can see the ROI of their work and feel confident in their decisions.”

“We've taken a step back to look at what AI can really mean for our users. Retailers sit on piles of data that can simply not be leveraged with most tools, let alone spreadsheets. Autone unlocks retailer profitability by reducing inventory levels while improving sales.”

“To us, AI is not just about automation and prediction; It's about empowering the expert within each user. The future of retail extends beyond sales figures and inventory levels; it's deeply intertwined with our responsibility towards the environment. We aim to show the entire industry that selling better doesn't mean more inventory but smarter inventory.”

Zeynep Yavuz of General Catalyst says: “Inventory management is one of the most critical and increasingly complex challenges in retail.’

‘With our investment in autone, we are partnering with what we think is an exceptional team that stands out with their deep retail expertise and a vision to help mid-market retailers make better business decisions using data. We are excited to support Autone in their journey to become a leading force in AI powered retail technology.”

2024 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Inventory management is a key focus area for the sixth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards, which is now open for entries.

The awards, sponsored by Scala, CADS, 3D Cloud, Brightpearl by Sage’s Lightning 50, and Retail Technology Show 2025, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Key 2024 dates

Friday, 25th October: Award entry deadline 

Tuesday, 29th October: 2024 shortlist revealed

30th October-6th November: Judging days

Thursday, 21st November: Winners announced at the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards ceremony, to be held at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London.