New Zealand intelligent retailing platform Insite AI raises $1.8 million

Intelligent merchandising platform Insite AI has raised $1.8 million (NZ$2 million) in a funding round led by New Zealand firm Goat Ventures and landed a pilot with Chemist Warehouse.

Also participating in the round were investors including the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund, Lewis Holdings, and other angel investors. The funding will go towards further development of the platform and scaling the business globally.

Aimed at retailers, the Insite AI platform looks to harness both retailer and external data, for example on competitors, and customers, and even weather, to help retailers make more informed decisions around their merchandising, from tasks such as stock allocation, pricing, and the development or stocking of new products.

The platform was originally spun out of Goat Ventures itself, which both invests in and creates early-stage startups. In developing new companies it co-creates with corporates, with the launch of Insite AI seeing collaboration with PwC Australia, which is working as the platform’s exclusive distributor.

Shaveer Mirpuri, CEO of Goat Ventures and chairperson of Insite AI, said, “We believe this sophisticated yet easy-to-use AI solution will help large retailers generate seven to 10 figures. This capital injection and our collaboration with PwC Australia will help make that vision a reality.”

Sammy Kumar, managing partner, strategy and transformation at PwC Australia, added that the firm looks forward to introducing the Insite AI solution to its clients in the retail space.

“We are pleased to work with Goat Ventures in fueling Insite AI’s growth ambitions and believe that the Insite AI merchandising AI platform will solve important problems across the retail value chain for our retail clients,” Kumar said.

The first test will be the pilot with Chemist Warehouse: the pharmacy chain will be using the Insite AI platform to support the buying and planning of its vitamins and non-prescription medicines, which it stated are the biggest area of its business.

Damien Gance, group commercial manager at Chemist Warehouse, said artificial intelligence is becoming a crucial ingredient in anticipating customer needs.

”We’re excited to embed Insite AI’s solution within our business to support our buying and planning activities.  Embracing new ideas and innovation acts to further distinguish us from competitors and helps us to ensure we always have the best products at the best price,” he said.

Image: Shaveer Mirpuri. Source: Supplied.