AiFi to conquer autonomous shopping with latest investment
With the highest number of computer vision-powered autonomous retail stores deployed across the globe, these funds will be used to scale with partners such as ALDI South Group, REWE and Żabka Group.
Leading provider of autonomous shopping solutions AiFi has announced a $65 million Series B funding round with participation from ALDI South Group, Żabka Group, REWE, Verizon Ventures, and Qualcomm Ventures LLC, among others.
The strategic investments bring AiFi's total funding to $80 million and will used to expand the company's technical team to cater to the surging demand for autonomous solution.
"We have deepened our partnerships with some of the world's largest retailers that share a vision of innovation. With this latest round of funding, we'll be able to scale our partnerships and launch customized stores in record time to bring us closer to our vision of using AI to simplify people's busy lives," says Steve Gu, AiFi CEO and co-founder.
AiFi works with ALDI South Group, Carrefour, Compass Group, and Żabka Group – it currently has the highest number of computer vision powered autonomous stores across the globe.
"In working with AiFi over the past year, we experienced their deep expertise in artificial intelligence and computer vision-based product recognition first hand, as well as their commitment to meeting ALDI's needs. This successful collaboration led to the opening of the world's largest checkout-free store, based on camera vision only," said an ALDI South Group Spokesperson.
AiFi powered one of the world's largest contact-free, frictionless markets in London with ALDI South Group. The company launched a first-of-its-kind, 10/10 Flash concept store with Carrefour in France, and the first autonomous Carrefour City+ in Dubai. It also partnered with the European leader Żabka Group to deploy 28 Nano autonomous stores over the span of ten months, creating what is now the largest chain of autonomous retail stores in Europe.
