Everseen, Hanshow and OpenAI top First ever RTIH Retail Technology Hot 100 List, sponsored by 3D Cloud
In partnership with 3D Cloud, RTIH is pleased to launch its first ever Retail Technology Hot 100 List. We’re bringing you the hottest companies whose solutions and systems are helping drive the retail sector forward.
Our Founder and Editor, Scott Thompson, drew up a list of 150 companies that had consistently been on his radar over the past 12 months whilst bringing our community the latest retail tech news and views that matter. These companies operate across the omnichannel retail landscape (stores, online, mobile, supply chain, payments etc).
Our judging panel, including Vineta Bajaj, Group CFO, Holland & Barrett, Dan McGrath, JD Group Customer Operations, JD Sports, Dr. Astha Purohit, Director of Product Management, Customer Data and Identity, Walmart, and Paula Bobbett, Chief Data and Digital Officer, Boots, provided feedback on those who have the most innovative, forward thinking technology offerings and are also best addressing retailers' current challenges, painpoints, and opportunities.
The judges used the following framework when making their picks:
1. Retailer problem fit - how meaningful, strategic, and widely felt the retailer pain being addressed is.
2. Production traction in retail (2025–2026) - real named retailer deployments, pilots.
3. Innovation and defensibility - genuine technical novelty paired with a defensible competitive position.
And there was also a public vote, with thousands of members of our community of retail tech enthusiasts getting involved. Thanks to all those who took part! Based on the judging panel's feedback and the public vote, we then drew up our first ever RTIH Retail Technology Hot 100.
So, without further ado, here are the 100 hottest global retail technology ventures right now. Drum roll, please…
You can download the hot 100 in pdf format here, or flick through it here 👇👇👇 And scroll down for the top ten in all its glory.
TOP 10
1. Everseen
Our judges said: Problem fit is strong, shrink is unambiguously board level, docked only because it concentrates in grocery/self-checkout rather than every format. Traction is also strong: 140,000+ checkouts, 11 of the top 20 global retailers, Kroger across 1,700+ stores. Nobody else on the list has that depth of proven, renewed production.
2. Hanshow
Our judges said: Leading the way in the ESL enhancements space and impressive innovation with its digital twin capabilities.
3. OpenAI
What the judges said: The problem it addresses, the customer relationship migrating into the chatbot, is the single most consequential shift in retail distribution. Traction scores lower because the named retail deployments (Loblaw, Instacart, DoorDash apps) are live but genuinely early.
There are challenges as Google, Amazon, and Anthropic are all contesting the same layer. On the flip side, it isn't a retail tech vendor. It’s the disintermediation threat your board should fear as much as court, since a native commerce layer taking a cut of every conversational sale would invert the economics for everyone below it.
4. Starship Technologies
Our judges said: Starship has done the thing everyone in last mile has promised for a decade and almost nobody has delivered, which is make the economics work. Its pavement robots run the largest autonomous delivery network in the world and come in around three to four pounds cheaper per drop than a human courier. Cracking the unit economics is the hard part, and they have. I also know the founder very well and really rate the tech they have in the background.
5. Vusion
Our judges said: Category leader in electronic shelf labels and 2026 RTIH AI in Retail Awards winner. Foundation infrastructure for real–time pricing, promotion, and dynamic shelf at retail scale.
6. Dexory
Our judges said: Dexory has gone after one of the oldest lies in a warehouse, which is that anyone knows what is really on racking. Its autonomous robots scan the aisles and build a live digital twin that sits on top of the warehouse system you already run, hitting around 99.9 per cent accuracy and taking out 16-plus hours of manual counting a day. What I like is that they fixed inventory truth without asking anyone to rip out their existing systems. This is great for anyone in the supply chain, and also for finance people!
7. Trigo
Our judges said: Trigo is the most interesting story on my list. It built world class computer vision for cashierless stores with Tesco and REWE, watched that market stall, and re-pointed the exact same technology at shrink and loss prevention using the cameras retailers already have on the ceiling. Taking a stalled moonshot and turning it into a boring, high ROI product is a masterclass in following the problem instead of the hype.
8. Stripe
Our judges said: A strong player in the payments space, combining with agentic. Strong traction, the core payments production is enormous, though the ACP specific deployment is new. Powerful defensibility on the developer moat, network and standard setting position as ACP co-author. The agentic angle is still nascent, it's not retail specialised, and it sits in a knife fight on take rate with Adyen and Checkout.com. Adyen arguably has the cleaner pure payments moat; Stripe wins here only on agentic positioning.
9. Symbotic
Our judges said: The deepest structural cost play. Strong problem resolution, supply chain labour and throughput is the biggest cost lever in the business. Solid traction, Walmart anchor and a multi-billion backlog, docked for lumpy, slow deployment cycles.
Good systems integration depth and near absolute switching costs once installed. Heavy Walmart customer concentration is a genuine single point risk, the model is capital intensive with long paybacks, and its execution/financial reporting history has had wobbles. A moat, but a lumpy one.
10. Foundit!
Our judges said: This intent led commerce platform is rapidly becoming an established player with major retail clients including B&Q, Tradepoint, and John Lewis & Partners. Delivering measurable results with fast deployment and integrating well with retail operations.
Hot 100 judging panel
Vineta Bajaj, Group CFO, Holland & Barrett
Bio: Vineta is an industry expert in the e-commerce and grocery industry, bringing several years experience in this space.
She spent ten years at Ocado Group, the FTSE 50 online grocer and technology provider supporting its growth and strategic M&A, strategic divestments and fundraising over £1.5 billion. She then took on the Group CFO role at Rohlik Group, a Pan European online grocer spanning five countries that has unicorn status.
Vineta recently joined Holland & Barrett as Group CFO. Her experience spans the US, UK, Europe and Asia. She is a finance, tax and business expert. She acts as an angel investor and advisor to a number of pre-series to Series A startups across a variety of industries and gives her time to supporting small businesses.
Dan McGrath, JD Group Customer Operations, JD Sports
Bio: With nearly 16 years at JD Sports and an entire career in retail, Dan is a recognised leader in retail technology and innovation. As Head of Customer Operations, he focuses on how emerging technologies can transform customer experiences and empower employees to perform at their best.
A true futurist, Dan explores the intersection of digital and physical retail, continually seeking ways to make the shopping journey more seamless, connected, and human.
Paula Bobbett, Chief Data and Digital Officer, Boots
Bio: With over a decade of experience, Paula is currently serving as Chief Data and Digital Officer at Boots UK, and contributing to digital transformation efforts through analytics and customer insight expertise.
She is also chairing the Boots Benevolent Fund and serving as a Non-Executive Director at Spire Healthcare Group, bringing diverse perspectives to leadership. Paula is skilled in leveraging data to drive actionable insights, aligning organisational goals with innovative digital strategies.
Carole Kingsbury, Chief Technology Officer, C&C Group
Bio: From publishing to fashion retail, Carole has successfully delivered technology solutions and services for FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies. Whether working as a Technology Consultant, Business Analyst, Programme Manager, or IT Director, her approach has consistently focussed on people, process, data, and technology (in that order).
For the past 16 years of her career, Carole has been privileged to have led teams of various shapes and sizes to achieve delivery of complex business and technology change in the retail sector and has always advocated for cross-functional ways of working and thinking to encourage active collaboration and create a culture of continuous improvement, development, and innovation.
Glen Richardson, Non-Executive Director, PoundFun, former COO at The Range and CMO at Fruugo
Bio: Whether through AI driven marketing, e-commerce strategy, or investment connections, Glen helps brands scale fast and smart.
He is currently Non-Executive Director at PoundFun, and has also served as COO at The Range and CMO at Fruugo.
Michael Guzzetta, Omnichannel and Product Leader
Bio: Michael Guzzetta is an omnichannel and emerging tech leader known for advancing guest experience innovation beyond the concept stage. He’s led initiatives at The Walt Disney Company, Microsoft, and H-E-B, deploying AI, robotics, computer vision, and automation in environments where execution matters.
His work focuses on reducing friction for guests while removing complexity for the teams delivering the experience. By connecting digital and physical systems, he’s driven $550 million+ in impact and improved how these systems perform under real-world conditions.
Christine Russo, Industry Analyst and Retail Influencer
Bio: Christine is an industry thought leader, Retail Technology Innovation Hub Top 100 Influencer, and the RTIH US correspondent.
She hosts the industry recognised leading podcast What Just Happened, where tech solution CEOs, leaders in retail and brands speak candidly about industry shaping issues and challenges.
With a career spanning roles in management consulting at Deloitte and executive roles in global store development, Christine’s experience includes top down analysis as well as serving time in the retail trenches. Based in New York City, she is the mom of three grown daughters and two naughty puppies.
Mike Cadden, Chief Technology Officer, Marie Curie
Bio: Mike is an experienced transformational technology executive with an exceptional track record in strategic and technical management in retail and FMCG with a passion for using data to deliver powerful customer experience that drives increased revenues.
He has extensive experience in business and technology turnarounds and digital transformations which have delivered both multi-million year-on-year revenue improvements as well as significant six figure savings to PE, PLC and privately owned businesses.
Toby Pickard, Retail Futures Senior Partner, IGD
Bio: Toby has almost 20 years’ experience working in the food and consumer goods industry.
He researches, analyses and presents insights on innovations, technology, retail futures, sustainability and macro trends in the FMCG sector.
Matt Taylor, UKI Chief Delivery Officer, Kyndryl
Bio: Prior to Kyndryl, Matt worked at NCC Group. He has also served as a partner and the technology strategy and transformation leader at one of the Big Four. In addition, he has been a CIO and previously led large scale complex global IT transformation, delivery and recoveries for over 20 years at Accenture.
Privileged to have led international teams and worked in Europe, US and India, Matt has experienced an incredibly valuable range of cultures and environments with some of the world's most innovative brands.
He is a fellow of the BCS (Chartered Institute for IT), elected committee member of the IT Leaders Forum, volunteer mentor, early careers advocate and proudly included in the RTIH top 100 retail technology influencers list.
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