Standard Cognition Acquires DeepMagic Auto-Pay Startup To Take On Amazon Go

Standard Cognition, which is an autonomous self-pay startup valued at $535 million, has set its sights on competing with rival Amazon Go, a cashierless enterprise from the online marketplace giant.

As reported, some grocery chains are worried about going head-to-head with Amazon’s technology, or partnering with it and handing over valuable customer data.

To capitalize on this, Standard Cognition has been rushing to install its tech in storefronts, which uses cameras to track customers’ choices and then charges them accordingly.

However, because Amazon has been in the cashierless space for some time, there is a danger that it could begin to “patent troll” Standard Cognition in an attempt to thwart its growth.

That’s why Standard Cognition has acquired DeepMagic, a company that is at the forefront of cashierless technology and autonomous retail booths.

“We’re not an aggressive company by any means. My personal stance on patents is that maybe they’re not the way the world should work,” said Standard Cognition CEO Jordan Fisher. “But given the larger player in the space, I think it’s the right thing to do, so we have coverage and can protect ourselves.”

DeepMagic technology lets customers swipe a card when they enter a shopping area and then walk out with any item and be charged for it. They operate on the idea that there could be small storefronts inside of malls or apartment buildings that are unstaffed. The technology was easier to bring to fruition because it didn’t involve dealing with pre-existing checkout lines.

Standard Cognition is going through the more arduous process of installing the new technology into already existing grocery, retail or baseball stadium stores. The company says it can grow profit margins for stores by up to 100 percent.

Standard Cognition said it hopes Amazon has to deal with the growing pains of moving from its own small Go stores to fully retrofitting existing businesses with the new technology. Fisher said his company gives businesses peace of mind because they won’t have to worry about data mining.

“I don’t think that’s minor at all. Do they get the insights? Can they leverage that to have a better offering on Amazon.com and in their brick-and-mortar stores?” Fisher asked. “Our product offering has none of those strings attached. There [are] no ulterior motives.”