A startup selling Amazon Go-like checkout technology to retailers has raised money from investors at a $1 billion valuation, minting a new unicorn a year into a pandemic that has helped bolster the case for cashierless stores.
Standard Cognition Corp., based in San Francisco, offers a package of cameras and software that tracks browsing shoppers and automatically charges them when they exit. Circle K, the convenience store chain owned by Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., is installing Standard’s technology in an Arizona store, with more to follow. Compass Group PLC, a U.K.-based food-service conglomerate, is also a customer.
“We’ve got commitments for 40 more stores on the books,” said Jordan Fisher, Standard’s co-founder and chief executive officer, who believes the pandemic has accelerated interest in cashierless technology. “We are really on the precipice of unleashing this on the world.” He said Standard will use $150 million in new funds to expand its installation team, among other things.
Source: Bloomberg
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