Augmodo, the Seattle-based startup that wants to make it easier for retailers to keep track of inventory, raised $5.3 million in seed funding.
The round was led by Lerer Hippeau and included participation from Dunnhumby Ventures, NewFare Partners and Simple Food Ventures. Axios first reported the news Wednesday.
Augmodo relies on computer vision, augmented reality, AI, spatial computing, 3D mapping, data analysis and more, but it starts with simple wearable tech. Store employees wear passive “Smartbadges” while they move through store aisles, and cameras in the badges collect inventory data related to empty shelves, overstocking and more.
Out-of-stock goods, overstocks and returns cost the global retail industry an estimated $1.75 trillion annually.
“Think about the QFC employee who may be picking a dozen products for an online order, but they’re seeing thousands,” Augmodo founder and CEO Ross Finman previously told GeekWire. He said Augmodo can collect data about empty shelves and product availability more cheaply and efficiently than the startup’s biggest competitors, which rely on expensive robot scanners.
Beyond just tracking what’s on shelves for store managers, a retailer’s headquarters can have a Google Streetview-style look into their stores to help see trends and solve issues along the supply chain. And rands can see the state of their products and promotions dozens of times a day in near real time instead of having to send someone in physically to check on shelves.
Augmodo said its tech will help curtail the 11.7% of lost revenue from store inefficiencies and data disconnects.
Finman is a former general manager in the headset division at Niantic Labs, makers of the location-based game “Pokémon Go.” Niantic acquired Finman’s first AR company, Escher Reality, in 2018 after it was spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Chemist Warehouse the largest pharmacy retailer in Australia with 535 locations there and internationally, is an early Augmodo customer. Finman also said in February that startup would target grocery retailers because “they have the highest throughput and largest workforce, so they have the biggest real-world data problems.”
The new cash will be used to fund pilots with retailers and brands and scale Augmodo. Axios reported that the company’s hardware costs about $50 per Smartbadge.
Augmodo currently employs 10 people and is growing.
