Forge Retail Pulse: A sneak peek into cashierless checkout, buy-now-pay-later commerce, an important spotlight on sustainability, and close with a few essential reads
Welcome back, Pulse subscribers!
A friendly reminder to register for our next Forge Retail Showcase on Thursday, July 15th, from 10:00 to 11:00 am EDT. During the event, we’ll focus on the Sustainable Retail Revolution and hear from three disrupters who have developed environmentally conscious solutions to meet global needs and consumer demands. We look forward to seeing you there!
This week we’ve got two startups helping customers skip the register when they shop with cashierless checkout. We’re also looking at a new force in last-mile logistics and a buy-now-pay-later startup that focuses on helping subprime consumers. As more customers make their buying decisions based on environmental impact, our theme this week is sustainability and companies that are putting our planet first, while maintaining the bottom line. Finish up with two essential reads that look at what the future may bring, and you’ve got another insight-packed edition of Pulse. Away we go!
Startup Deals
Grab-and-Go Shopping | With computer-vision-based grocery checkout technology, there’s no need to stop by the register. Customers simply take what they want and leave. While Amazon led the charge with cashierless checkout, two startups are looking to expand into this growing market. Israel-based Trigo recently netted additional funding from German supermarket chain REWE Group and Viola Growth after raising $60 million in a Series B round led by 83North. While not disclosing valuation, this puts their total raised at over $100 million.
Berkeley-based Grabango made headlines last September when its system launched in a 3,000 square foot convenience store in the Pittsburgh area. With plans to add its technology to four more stores by the end of the year and the promise of more to come, Grabango raised $39 million in a Series B funding round led by Commerce Ventures.
Last-Mile Logistics | The last-mile is crucial for retailers and commonly accounts for 30% to 40% of the total delivery. Bringg strives to make the last mile faster and more efficient by providing software to help retailers manage and even tap into the workforce fulfilling deliveries. With an impressive client roster including Walmart, Albertsons, Party City, Coca-Cola, and Panera, Bringg is looking to “perfect the customer experience” by expanding into the middle mile, offering more flexible delivery in-store, “green” delivery, and more. With its ambitions clear, Bringg raised $100 million in a Series E funding round led by Salesforce Ventures, putting its valuation at $1 billion.
Buy Now, Pay Later | Buy now, pay later is having a moment. With Klarna raising $649 million and Affirm going public, many investors believe in the future of this market. While most of these startups focus on “nice-to-have” luxuries (Pelotons, jewelry, etc.), Kafene sets itself apart by focusing on subprime consumers and their “must-haves” (furniture, appliances, etc.). With a “flexible ownership” schedule, if a customer becomes unable to make payments, Kafene simply picks up the item and the customer no longer has to pay for it moving forward. In addition, this two-year-old New York-based startup also helps people improve their credit scores. When customers buy out their loans earlier than the 12-month term, Kafene reports them as a positive payer and their credit score goes up. Co-led by Global Founders Capital and Third Prime Ventures, Kafene recently raised $14 million in Series A funding.
Theme Exploration: Sustainability
As consumers shop with a more environmentally conscious mindset, they demand the businesses they patronize follow suit. Look at the success of Patagonia and its earth-first mentality or the way single-use drinking straws became scarce almost overnight, and it becomes clear that sustainability is at the forefront of customer thinking. The companies below offer unique ways to help businesses shrink their environmental impact. That’s good for business - and good for our planet.
Sustainable Packaging | 50% of plastic packaging is used once and thrown away. Even seemingly “eco-friendly” paper takeaway boxes are usually coated with nonbiodegradable synthetics to make them water-and grease-proof. Notpla is a sustainable packaging startup that designs and manufactures 100% biodegradable packaging from seaweed and plants. Its Ooho packet can accommodate sauces or beverages, like whiskey, which Glenlivet used to debut “cocktail capsules” in 2019. The packet is totally edible or will biodegrade in 4 to 6 weeks. Notpla’s takeaway boxes are being rolled out by Just Eat and offer the same functionality as traditional cardboard to-go boxes, but are designed to disappear and will biodegrade like a piece of fruit.
Safety and Traceability | Those little stickers on apples aren’t just for show. They enable that piece of fruit to be traced back to the supplier and/or grower to ensure authenticity, origin, and quality. But of course, stickers not only end up as trash, they can be manipulated, lost, or damaged in transit. The miniDART solution by SafeTraces does away with stickers entirely. Using invisible, edible, flavorless FDA-GRAS DNA-based tags that are applied directly to the product, SafeTraces eliminates physical tagging and all its environmental and logistical downsides. Downstream, partners use a test kit and off-the-shelf reader to confirm they’re getting what’s expected, helping to mitigate fraud, diversion, and adulteration, while reducing the time and cost of recalls.
Circular Shopping | As consumers look for deals on premium goods and strive to lessen their environmental impact, many are turning to circular shopping. In circular shopping, an item gets a second life and instead of being thrown away, goes back into the marketplace. Trove provides a white-label circular-shopping solution that empowers premium brands to take back supply and control their own resale channel and customer experience. Working with leading brands like Levi’s, Patagonia, REI, and Lululemon, Trove helps brands deepen new and existing customer loyalty, increase profit, and protect the planet by advancing the circular economy.
Essential Industry Reads
As we move into a post-pandemic reality, leaders are looking toward the technology trends that will shape our new world and affect their strategic priorities. Bain met with hundreds of carefully selected technology companies and startups to learn what those in the C-Suite think will have the biggest impact. The results run the gamut from AI-enabled collective intelligence to diversity in recruiting to quantum computing. Click below to see what those at the top think could be the most disruptive trends this year.
Andreessen Horowitz has had its finger on the pulse of what’s happening for over a decade, and a16z.com has been an invaluable resource for understanding what’s happening in the world of all things tech. With the launch of Future, Andreessen Horowitz aims to give the same clarity and vision to what’s coming next. This new media property will feature content by staffers, industry operators, and paid contributors and will initially focus on the spaces the firm targets for investments, but will expand into other areas, as a16z has done. Read below to see what the future has to offer.
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