Grabango Series B funding round : Checkout-free technology provider raises $39m

Grabango, a California-based software company that provides checkout-free technology for grocery and convenience stores, has secured $39 million in a Series B funding round led by Commerce Ventures.

Other participants in the Grabango Series B funding round were Founders Fund, Honeywell Ventures, Unilever Ventures, and WIND Ventures.

The Series B round follows a Series A round in January 2019 when Grabango had raised $12 million and earlier investments totaling $6 million.

Matt Nichols – Partner at Commerce Ventures, commenting on Grabango Series B funding round, said: “We evaluated nearly every company in the space and chose Grabango because they had the most robust technology, an approach that works in complex retail environments, and an incredible team. This combination is why they continue to pull away as the market leader.

“Incredibly, the $5.7 trillion grocery market had been left behind as tech innovation focused on other sectors. Grabango delivers a new level of convenience for shoppers and will transform the economics of grocery and convenience stores across the world.”

Grabango Series B funding round : Checkout-free technology provider raises $39m. Photo courtesy of Grabango Co.

Grabango, which was established in 2016 by Will Glaser, enables already operating stores to retrofit its checkout-free technology.

So far, the checkout-free technology provider has agreements in place with five retail partners, which include a Fortune-25 multinational and a global top-10 grocer.

The company has partnered with US food retailer Giant Eagle to showcase how its checkout-free technology works in a real-world scenario with more than 15,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) and tens of thousands of transactions every month.

Grabango plans to launch its checkout-free technology into four more Giant Eagle GetGo stores in the Greater Pittsburgh region by the end of this year.

In a store integrated with Grabango checkout-free technology, customers can shop normally and will be able to skip the payment line by scanning the code in their Grabango app for a cashierless buying experience.

The computer vision technology provided by Grabango’s solution will identify items as they are removed from the shelves by customers. The items are counted and the receipt is sent to the customer’s phone after they exit the store.

Grabango will use a part of the proceeds from its Series B funding round for expanding its development team.

Commenting on Grabango Series B funding round, Will Glaser – CEO of Grabango said: “We pride ourselves on the accuracy of the system, and the ease with which it operates in the dynamic environment of a modern store.

“Wasting time in lines has always bothered me, and now we no longer have to endure it. The incredibly gifted Grabango team has built one of the great marvels of modern technology; so advanced that it feels like magic!”