Tel Aviv-based grocery tech startup Shopic has raised $35 million in a Series B funding round led by Qualcomm Ventures, which saw participation from Vintage Investment Partners and Clal Insurance.
Existing investors IBI Tech Fund, Tal Ventures, Claridge Israel and Shufersal also supported the round, Tech Funding News reported Tuesday (Aug. 9).
The company will use the new money to expand its global reach. Shopic technology, which uses computer vision to identify items as shoppers add them to their cart, has already been deployed in grocers and supermarket chains in Europe, the Americas and Israel.
Shopic is a smart grocery shopping cart company that is positioning itself as a rival to the Amazon Dash smart cart. It has built an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered clip-on device that transforms shopping carts into smart carts, per the report.
Thanks to computer vision, Shopic identifies items placed in the cart in real-time, while displaying product promotions and discounts on related products. The system acts as a self-service checkout interface, meaning customers don’t need to queue and pay at the end of their shopping trip.
As well as delivering a more streamlined experience for shoppers, the company provides real-time inventory management and customer behavioral insights for retailers through its analytics dashboard. These reports include aisle heat maps, promotion monitoring and new product adoption metrics.
As PYMNTS reported recently, Shopic is not the only player in the smart shopping cart space, and in Europe especially, a host of supermarkets and startups are lining up to deliver the next generation of grocery shopping technology.
See also: AI-Powered Autonomous Stores Usher in Next-Gen Retail for European Shoppers
On the latest funding, Raz Golan, CEO and co-founder of Shopic, said, “Today’s consumers are used to friction-free online shopping experiences, but retailers struggle to deliver them for in-store shoppers. As the only solution that uses full computer vision rather than barcode scanning, Shopic empowers retailers to not only meet customer expectations but to delight them.”
Merav Weinryb, vice president of Qualcomm Israel and managing director of Qualcomm Ventures Israel and Europe, added, “We support Shopic’s vision of hybrid retail, where the best of online shopping and physical store experiences merge.
“Shopic’s smart cart, which is a compelling and pragmatic smart retail solution is helping enable this future. We were very impressed with the performance of Shopic’s cart in live supermarkets, demonstrating the potential of AI to transform everyday experiences for everyone.”
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