NYC Retail AI Market Map

Author’s Note: After such an overwhelmingly positive response to Issue #64 on NYC’s retail AI boom, I decided to create a living market map where I would make updates and adjustments. Already, have one two to add!

NYC’s Retail AI Boom

A couple of weeks ago, Sequoia Capital, a large venture capital fund, declared that there was an opportunity to build a $1 trillion company in retail. The next Amazon in their eyes. A couple of the technologies they suggested that a company could reach a $1T scale were purchasing assistance, technology to link different AI tools/other interfaces like websites (MCP), preemptively predicting orders by shipping them ahead of time, roaming autonomous stores, and AI IOT using computer vision to automatically restock your fridge or pantry. These are some really exciting ideas, and one idea I would add to it is AI software that is improving the fragmented, manual retail supply chain or retail process in general. Being based in NYC, I have seen the number of startups in the space based here skyrocket, all building to solve those aforementioned issues, as well as many other retail issues that occur in the messy retail world day-to-day.

In fact, across the 13 early-stage retail AI startups in NYC that I have been tracking, they have raised over $223 MILLION, with a plethora of that funding coming in recently. Including some more established startups, the total funding raised by companies on this list is over $1B.

I have always been bullish on NYC as a city to build startups due to the combination of capital, industry expertise, and incumbents located here. In the retail/CPG/restaurant industry, that could not be more apparent. With that in mind, let’s dive into some of the exciting early-stage, retail AI companies located in NYC.

Early Stage Retail AI

• Actuate ($12M Raised) - Actuate uses AI video analytics to proactively monitor security. Has clients in the retail/SMB industry.

• Aisle (Unknown Amount Raised) - Aisle is a marketing software utilized by CPG brands to run loyalty programs and get insights from customer-submitted receipts.

• Blackbird Labs ($85M Raised) - Blackbird, which was founded by one of the founders of Resy, is a payments and loyalty platform for restaurants that leverages blockchain technology to facilitate payments. The AI technology in this case is more backend.

• Bops ($3M Raised) - Bops utilizes AI to help ensure brands are not out of stock on retail shelves. The software helps maximize in-stock rates, profitability, and reducing lost sales.

• Crafted (Unknown Amount Raised) - Crafted helps CPG brands drive retail sales through influencers, with its core product being a campaign management software. One of the features is using AI to measure in-store sales lift.

• Confido ($20M Raised) - Confido uses AI to help CPG brands manage their finances. In particular, helps with cash application of retail payments, retailer deduction analysis and management, trade management, and sales forecasting.

• Flip ($9M raised) - Flip is a white label software for retailers and eCommerce brands to automate their voice calls using a voice AI agent.

• Glimpse ($10M Raised) - Glimpse uses AI to help CPG brands manage their retailer deductions.

• Keychain ($68M Raised) - Keychain is a supply chain tool powered by AI, to help CPG brands, manufacturers, and retailers manage the entire supply chain. It is a mix of project management, CRM, supplier browsing, chatbot, process management, and more.

• Kintow (Unknown Amount Raised) - Kintow is a copilot for a restaurant(s) owners. It integrates into existing tools to support restaurateurs with cost monitoring, flagging issues, and automating workflows, all powered by AI software.

• Sante ($500k Raised) - Sante is building a POS system for liquor stores. Features include receiving, ecommerce, delivery apps, and more in one platform, all powered by AI.

• Sciemo (Unknown Amount Raised) - Sciemo is using AI to support consumer brands. In particular, they are focusing on the Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process, pricing, promotions, channel optimization, and inventory management.

• Spate ($2M Raised) - Spate uses AI to help CPG and Beauty brands and retailers conduct market research as well as trend research.

• Superorder ($13M Raised) - Superorder is a tool for restaurants that provides AI agents to maximize their reputation, delivery profitability, and power a better customer experience.

Growth Stage Retail AI

There are also some startups, albeit at the growth stage, that are building some exciting stuff in the same space I wanted to highlight.

• Dataiku ($600M Raised) - Dataiku is a platform using AI to help large enterprises with analytics, modeling, and AI agents. They support many CPG brands selling into retail, including Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, LVMH, and more. Dataiku was founded in 2013.

• Qloo ($74M Raised) - Qloo helps retailers and brands understand consumer preferences and lifestyle. They use AI to help interpret the data and make predictions to support personalization.

• (Go) Radar ($63M Raised) - (Go) Radar is a software for retailers to manage inventory, measure customer interactions, and do autonomous checkout using RFID tags, computer vision, and AI.

• Radar ($86M Raised) - Radar is used by many retailers to understand where people are located, and use that to power experiences, everything from store maps to delivery to geolocation compliance. There is AI running in the background powering these features. Radar is further along than many other companies on this list.

Additionally, wanted to give a couple of shout-outs to some retail or AI adjacent startups headquartered in NYC:

Apollo Bagels (retail bagel chain), Accrue (white label payments and loyalty), Bandana (Job Marketplace), Bilt Rewards (credit card), Blank Street Coffee (retail coffee chain), Fora Travel (AI agents for travel agents), Just Salad (retail salad chain), Pickle (secondhand consumer app marketplace with AI search), PopUp Bagels (retail bagel chain), Resortpass (marketplace for daily activities), and Seventh Street Burger (retail burger chain).

What are your favorites? Who did I miss? Don’t hesitate to reach out to me!