RetailTech firm SeeChange Technologies has closed a seed extension funding round of £8 million.
The Manchester startup has developed a visual AI platform, SeeWare, which provides intelligent and connected systems for stores, with checkout, preemptive stock management and capabilities to decrease theft. It processes video from retailers’ existing hardware.
Working collaboratively with partners to connect in-store CCTV, checkouts and POS systems, SeeWare has been successfully piloted and commercially trialled by global retail customers, and is fully integrated into Diebold Nixdorf’s checkouts.
The round was led by Crane Venture Partners and Triple Point Ventures. New investors Runa Capital, True, Portfolio Ventures and Material Ventures also participated.
In connection with this funding, SeeChange has appointed Richard Irving as chairman. Based in Silicon Valley, Irving co-founded Pond Venture Partners and has 40 years’ international operating and venture capital experience in building startups to successful levels of scale and impact.
“I am pleased to welcome our new investors. Their participation is a strong endorsement of the unique and proven capabilities of our SeeWare platform for the entire global retail ecosystem,” said Jason Souloglou, SeeChange co-founder and CEO.
“With our expertise in applying AI to the real world and our focus on collaboration, we deliver a safer, seamless experience for retailers, their staff and customers. This funding will expand customer commercial deployments and strengthen our commercial and support teams, enabling us to make a greater impact on the retail industry.”
Krishna Visvanathan, general partner at Crane Venture Partners, added: “AI is reshaping the world as we know it and SeeChange’s groundbreaking technology is positioned to revolutionise the retail landscape.
“By providing retailers with real-time visual insights to enhance security and optimise their spaces, SeeChange is poised to redefine what’s possible in the retail industry and beyond.”