Slyce, a Toronto-based startup, has bagged $10.75 million for its new funding round, TechCrunch reported.
The financing was led by Beacon Securities and was participated in by PI Financial, Salman Partners, Harrington Global and other investors. Slyce develops image recognition technology and seeks to be the "Amazon Flow for every other retailer in the planet" helping users do their shopping using their smartphones, the report said.
CrunchBase information explains the Slyce platform. By using visual recognition technology, video and audio recognition, QR and barcode scanning and NFC, a user is able to immediately identify a prospective purchase. After the item has been scanned, it can immediately be bought by the user online or if it's only available in a brick-and-mortar store, the app gives the nearest location where it is available.
Unlike Amazon Flow will only work effectively if the product is placed in its original packaging, Slyce is more robust because it can still identify even if they are not anymore retained inside the original package.
Slyce Chief Digital Officer Mark Elfenbein told TechCrunch, "We have to rely more on what are the unique attributes of the item, so that we have to rely more on the item itself versus a logo or text. Which, if you think about it, is not really present 95 percent of the time in the real world."
As such, Slyce has the benefit of being able to ID products no matter where they are, which is a good thing because the startup has its eyes set not only on retail. Aside from the tie-ups it has forged with major retailers in the US, Slyce is looking at avenues to utilize their image recognition technology to identify products for mobile gift registries and then get coupons for them or even from the competitors of the products identified, the report said.
Slyce still has plans of raising a bigger round in the next two to three months so that it will be able to support its hiring and acquisition efforts, the report said.
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