Growth Funds for Retail Intelligence Firm Focal Systems

In the US, retail automation solutions provider Focal Systems has received an undisclosed amount of investment, which it will use to drive further development of its AI-based on-shelf demand insights solutions.

Focal's shelf-edge camera system captures images of store shelves in order to calculate what is out of stock. By generating data hourly, Focal can optimize inventory and retail operations, and the company's real-time, data and AI algorithms can be used to automate and optimize all functions of a retailer's business. This all feeds into Focal's AI engine to automate decision making and optimize planograms, labor schedules, on-shelf availability and associate productivity.

New funding has been led by Zebra Ventures, which invests in early growth stage technology companies. Francois Chaubard (pictured), CEO of Focal Systems, comments: 'We know that some retailers and consumer packaged goods companies would like to receive shelf inventory data multiple times per day, and our shelf edge cameras enable this. We are building automation solutions that empower the next generation of retail stores and this investment allows us to accelerate our product roadmap and scale globally.'

Web site: www.focal.systems .