FUNDING

Trigo raises $100M for frictionless shopping

Trigo, a computer vision company that makes technology to power fully autonomous digital stores, raised $100 million to deploy to supermarkets in the US and Europe.

The funding was led by Singapore-based investment firm Temasek and 83North. The round included participation from new investors including SAP SE, who will also help commercialize Trigo’s solution. Existing investors also joined the round, including Hetz Ventures, Red Dot Capital Partners, Vertex Ventures, Viola, and supermarket giant REWE Group.

Trigo’s technology allows stores to set up an environment where customers can pick items, and leave a store without having to go through a physical checkout. The company’s systems analyze feeds from ceiling-mounted cameras and shelf sensors to create a “digital twin” of a store, then use computer vision algorithms to analyze interactions between humans and merchandise.

With the funding, Trigo will expand into full-sized urban supermarket and new geographies. It will also further develop its store and inventory management platform, called StoreOS.

Cruz Foam raises $18 million for plastic foam alternative

Cruz Foam, a circular materials company developing sustainable packaging materials, raised $18 million in a Series A round.

The financing was led by Helena, with participation from One Small Planet, Regeneration.VC, At One Ventures and SoundWaves. Matthew Saunders of Helena and Will Peterffy of One Small Planet will join the company’s board.

Founded in 2017, Cruz Foam is developing materials that are designed to help supply chains transition away from single-use plastics for packaging. The company’s first product is designed as a replacement for plastic foam.

With the new funding, the company also said it transitioned its structure to a benefit corporation.

mason raises $7.5M for commerce engine

Mason raised $7.5 million to grow a commerce engine that is designed to bring Amazon-like infrastructure to ecommerce stores.

The funding was led by Accel and Ideaspring Capital, with participation from Lightspeed India Partners, as well as Mana VC, Gaingels, Core91 and VH Capital.

Cofounders Barada Sahu and Kausambi Manjita met at Myntra, which is Walmart’s fashion arm in Asia. They built a no-code platform that is designed to bring selling tools to a direct-to-consumer website that bring efficiency that is akin to what is offered by Amazon. The company said it has 1,000 customers, and powers more than 8,000 brands. Now, it will be doubling investment into AI-based playbooks to help brands grow.

“The previous generation of commerce has helped brands set up their stores online and have great systems for storing business information,” Manjita said, in a statement. “What brands now need is a technology layer that helps convert this information in action.”

Kudos raises $7M for smart wallet

Kudos Technologies, which makes a smart wallet to manage funds and rewards, raised $7 million in a seed round.

The round was led by Patron, with participation from QED Investors, SciFi VC, SV Angel, Precursor Ventures, Newtype Ventures, Chingona Ventures and over 40 angel investors.

With the financing, Kudos said it launched a mobile and desktop extension to the public. The company’s product supports checkout at more than 1 million websites. The smart wallet autofills card details, and helps users identify rewards, as well as purchase protection and travel insurance.

The funding will help the company further develop a smart wallet that is designed to help simplify checkout and maximize credit card rewards. It will also be allocated toward future initiatives, including the launch of cashback boosts across 12,000 merchant partners.

Loci raises $4.5M, led by Leonardo DiCaprio

Loci, a vegan sneaker brand, raised $4.5 million in a seed round, according to Footwear News.

The round was led by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, with participation from former adidas executives Martin Ott and James Carnes.

Founded in 2021 by Emmanuel Eribo and Philippe Homsy, UK-based Loci makes sneakers from recycled, renewable and biodegradable materials. With the investment, it will expand its team and supply chain network.

Nourie raises $2.5M for plant-based hair extensions

Nourie, a plant-based braiding hair extensions brand, raised $2.5 million in seed funding to support its launch.

The round was led by Impact America Fund, Better Ventures, and SOSV’s accelerator IndieBio, according to Business Insider.

Founded by Osahon Ojeaga and Mary Ellen Moore, the brand is led by a team of Black women scientists, and developed its hair extension to deliver nutrients to the hair and scalp, BeautyMatter reported.

Mango invests in textile reseller

European fashion retailer Mango invested in Recovo, a recommerce platform that resells textile waste.

Recovo is a participant in the Mango StartUp Studio, which provides an opportunity to learn about Mango’s operation up-close, and receive mentoring from the company. Through the agreement, Recovo will receive a convertible equity loan. Terms were not disclosed.

Founded in 2021, Recovo’s platform is designed to provide companies with an avenue to resell textile, yarn and production material waste. “Recovo presents a business model which contributes to a circular future through technology, traceability and community action,” Mango said in a statement.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

MyUS acquired by Aramex for $265M

MyUS, a shipping company that facilitates orders for international customers shopping from US and UK stores, was acquired by UAE-based courier firm Aramex for approximately $265 million in cash, the companies said.

With the deal, MyUS will integrate into Aramex, while retaining its own brand. Founded in 1982, Aramex offers a variety of services, including express courier delivery, freight forwarding, logistics, supply chain management, ecommerce and record management services.

Florida-based MyUS was founded in 1997. It offers package consolidation services that allow international customers to shop from US stores, and have packages delivered. Going forward, MyUS will be complementary to Aramex’s subscription-based, last-mile ecommerce platform.

"We are ready to take our products and solutions to new markets by leveraging Aramex’s extensive global network, scale, knowledge, and expertise in markets exhibiting very attractive characteristics, such as the MENA region, the UK, and Australia,” said Ramesh Bulusu, CEO of MyUS, in a statement. “Together with Aramex, we will work on developing a joint business plan to unlock revenue and operational cost synergies to help grow the cross-border ecommerce business and bring customers the best solutions and services.”

Kibo spins out personalization business Monetate

Omnichannel commerce platform Kibo sold its personalization business to investment firm Centre Lane Partners.

Operating as Monetate, the spinout business will be led by Kibo Chief Operating Officer Brian Wilson. Kibo acquired Monetate in 2019. The business allows organizations to use data for testing and experimentation, recommendations and automated 1-to-1 experiences. With the spinout, Monetate will be able to expand beyond retail into verticals such as financial services, travel and hospitality and telecommunications, the companies said.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Perfect Corp. goes public

Perfect Corp., which provides augmented reality and AI software for beauty and fashion, debuted Monday as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company completed a merger with Provident Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Under the deal, the merger of the companies took Perfect Corp. public. It will now be listed under the ticker symbol "PERF."

The merger values Perfect at $1.02 billion. It will provide Perfect with $119 million to fund growth. Investors in the Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE) that backed the IPO included Chanel, CyberLink, Shiseido and Snap.

"We are thrilled to continue Perfect’s evolution, now as a public company, by reaching this significant milestone," said Alice Chang, the CEO and founder of Perfect Corp. "Leveraging our access to the global capital market, we plan to extend our industry coverage from beauty and fashion to tangential sectors, augment our innovative AR and AI SaaS solutions, and empower more enterprises around the world to deliver transformative virtual product try-on experiences to consumers.”

Perfect works with over 400 beauty brands, powering virtual try-ons in cosmetics, skincare, hair colors and fashion accessories. It also makes the YouCam family of photo editor and selfie camera apps, which integrate AR technology.