Trax, a Singapore-based company harnessing computer vision to provide vision and analytics tools for retailers, has secured US$640 million in a Series E financing round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and technology-focused funds managed by existing investor BlackRock.
As per a press note, this round of primary and secondary capital financing also saw participation from new investors including Canadian pension fund OMERS and Sony Innovation Fund.
The blockbuster Series E round is more than double what the company raised in the past decade. To date, the firm has raised US$1.03 billion in investments and is understood to be valued at over US$2 billion, as per a DealStreetAsia report.
Justin Behar, CEO of Trax, shared the fresh funds will go towards “investing in our team, extending our market leadership, scale our retailer business, and drive the next stages of long-term growth and innovation.”
Founded in 2010, Trax’s cloud platform is accelerating the digital transformation of consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies and grocery retailers by providing granular visibility of rapidly changing store conditions. The company hit unicorn status after a US$100M Series D funding round in 2019.
Trax claims its proprietary computer vision solutions enable users to make timely, data-driven decisions and implement immediate corrective actions. This helps retailers accelerate growth, reduce costs, and drive awareness and purchasing intent.
In the past year, Trax launched a suite of autonomous shelf-monitoring solutions and an AI-driven, enterprise-level dynamic merchandising service to help brands and retailers keep products on shelves with the assistance of Flexforce, an on-demand crowd marketplace.
Also Read: Trax acquires European image recognition startup Qopius to expand digital retail presence
“Trax has been building its sophisticated, AI-powered, retail cloud platform for more than a decade. We began our journey by creating novel computer vision solutions for retail and have since broadened our capabilities to serve the evolving needs of the modern retail ecosystem,” added Behar.
“We are witnessing the retail industry adopt digital technologies at an unprecedented pace and scale,” noted Joel Bar-El, Executive Chairman and co-founder of Trax.
“Despite the turbulence of 2020, we made tremendous strides in our business because of the hard work, dedication and team spirit at Trax. Our many solutions address the complex needs of CPG brands and retailers as they rapidly adjust to shifts in consumer behaviour,” he added.
“Through its innovative AI platform and image recognition technologies, we believe Trax is optimizing retail stores by enabling CPG brands and retailers to execute better inventory strategies using data and analytics,” noted Chris Lee, Director at SoftBank Investment Advisers.
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Image Credit: Trax
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