Dive Brief:
-
Standard Cognition announced last week that it acquired DeepMagic, a New York-based retail automation startup founded by Bernd Schoner and Davi Geiger. Schoner will serve as a Standard Cognition consultant, according to a press release.
-
The acquisition was in part to build out Standard Cognition's automation capabilities through DeepMagic's autonomous checkout technology patents as well as other tech it's developed, per the press release.
-
Standard Cognition has so far raised $86 million in funding from investors such as CRV, Initialized Capital, EQT Ventures and Y Combinator.
Dive Insight:
The acquisition of DeepMagic is the latest step Standard Cognition has taken to expand its reach. Beyond raising capital from various investors, the retail technology company also acquired Explorer.ai earlier this year and partnered with retailers to introduce its technology.
In addition to patenting valuable retail technology, DeepMagic has also rolled out its technologies in the U.S. and Europe, according to Standard Cognition's announcement.
"Both Standard and DeepMagic took a computer-vision only approach to autonomous checkout, making our technologies very compatible," Standard Cognition CEO and co-founder Jordan Fisher said in a statement. "We both knew from the start that in order to retrofit into existing retail environments, we needed to maintain a very low footprint — a cameras-only system is the best way to do that."
As Standard Cognition acquires companies and raises funds, other competitors are also gaining ground. Automated checkout and cashierless store technologies, and tech companies like Bolt, Caper, Grabandgo and Zippin are each carving out their share of the checkout technology market. Of course, Amazon appears to be the leader in the space, with stores opening in cities like Chicago, San Francisco and New York.
