Instacart acquires Arpalus with focus on boosting real-time shelf intelligence across grocery retail space
Grocery technology company Instacart has announced its acquisition of Arpalus, a computer vision firm that has developed shelf intelligence technology for grocery retail. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We believe the future of grocery retail is a unified experience powered by Instacart intelligence, where what happens in store connects seamlessly to e-commerce in real-time,” says David McIntosh, Chief Connected Stores Officer at Instacart. "The Arpalus team has spent years building exceptional shelf intelligence technology, solving the problem of understanding what’s actually on store shelves, at any given moment. With our leadership in physical AI for grocery retail and by activating our network of shoppers, we can feed even more accurate shelf information back into our models, delivering better outcomes for customers, shoppers, and our retail and brand partners."
"Arpalus was founded to solve one of retail’s most fundamental challenges: bridging the gap between what happens in-store and the decisions driving business performance,” says Ofir Zilberberg, Founder and CEO at Arpalus. “We built an AI platform that gives retailers real-time visibility into inventory and store execution, enabling faster and smarter decisions at scale. Joining Instacart is a transformative milestone. By combining Arpalus’ AI innovation with Instacart’s scale and retail reach, we are accelerating the future of intelligent retail and redefining how stores operate.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Grocery retail will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
