Israeli retail AI start-up Shopic has raised an additional $10m in equity funding, bringing the total amount secured so far to $21m.

Shopic creates frictionless, personalised shopping experiences in brick-and-mortar stores. Already deploying its technology in stores of major grocery chains worldwide, Shopic will use the new funds to accelerate commercial activities and expand its team.

Grocers and retailers are exploring smart cart technologies to meet the demand for frictionless shopping and cashier-less checkout. However, introducing purpose-built smart trolleys to a store is often operationally complicated and costly.

Shopic overcomes these problems with an AI-powered clip-on device that can turn any standard shopping trolley into a smart cart. It can be deployed with few modifications to a store’s infrastructure and layout and still deliver the benefits of smart cart shopping – an effortless shopping experience without checkout queues while offering a personalised store journey with contextualised promotions. Shopic’s smart cart can be deployed in large supermarkets, unlike some other frictionless options that are limited to small convenience stores. 

The round was led by technology growth investor Claridge Israel, with the participation of the company’s existing investors Entrée Capital, IBI Tech Fund and Tal Capital.

“We’re excited to announce this additional funding that will help us progress more rapidly as we expand into new stores and retail partners,” said Raz Golan, CEO and co-founder of Shopic. “This investment, from a long-term growth investor such as Claridge Israel, is a vote of confidence in our approach to build and deliver frictionless retail that is practical, immediately deployable and cost-effective, without having to make major changes to the way stores are run.”

Using computer vision technology, Shopic’s clip-on device instantly recognises items placed in or taken out of the cart in real time, automatically registering them by price and displaying the shopper’s active receipt on the device’s screen.

Shopic personalises the in-store experience by offering digital promotions based on consumers’ previous buying habits, store location and item selection all in real time, saving them time and money. For retailers, Shopic’s analytics engine optimises store management with real-time tracking of shopping carts and store shelves, solving retailers’ lack of information problem from the moment a shopper enters a store and until they checkout.

It provides retailers with live data on a shopping journey and the shopper’s various interactions in the store. These data can be used for footpath personalisation, contextual promotions and better understanding of shopping habits.

“Shopic has been developing retail-specific AI for several years, and we’ve gained intimate knowledge of the space and our customers’ unique needs,” said Eran Kravitz, Shopic’s co-founder and CTO. “Our computer vision technology solves many of the challenges of the noisy, visual-heavy environment of big supermarkets, while still delivering fast performance at very high accuracy levels.”

Shopic is already working with some of the largest retailers in Europe, USA and Israel. Initial deployments indicate that more than 90% of shoppers are enthusiastic about the smart cart and feel their overall shopping experience has improved. Initial data also indicated that shoppers who used Shopic increased their basket size by more than 10%.

“Shopic provides supermarkets a competitive edge that is affordable and scalable, without having to make significant changes to their stores’ infrastructure,” said Rami Hadar, managing partner at Claridge Israel. “After following the industry closely over the last few years, we truly believe that Shopic offers the most scalable, economically efficient solution and we look forward to supporting the company on its journey in becoming a leader in its space.”

Oded Tal, founding managing partner of Claridge Israel, will be joining Shopic’s board of directors.

The AI-powered device can be attached to any standard shopping trolley. It recognises items being added or removed, allowing shoppers to skip the checkout queues while personalising store journeys. Aimed at medium and large-sized stores, it helps retailers create a seamless in-store shopping experience as well as optimising their operations with real-time analysis of shopper carts and store shelves.

Founded in 2015, Shopic is based in Tel Aviv, Israel.