AI RetailTech Startup ScanWatch Closes €0.5M Seed Round To Transform Store Checkout

AI retail technology startup ScanWatch attracted €0.5M in investments, with technology company Agmis and smart retail security solutions provider Neto Baltic leading the round.

ScanWatch reduces the time spent at self-service checkout counters. The product automatically identifies scanned fruit, vegetables, and other unpackaged goods, helping retailers to mitigate checkout fraud, as well as reduce unintentional scanning errors.

“More than 60% of shopping baskets include at least one unpacked item. Selecting fruit or vegetables from the self-checkout counter menu creates additional friction in the checkout experience, also increasing checkout time, especially if scanning a few unpackaged items per checkout”, – noted ScanWatch Chariman of the Board Evaldas Budvilaitis.

ScanWatch also compares visual images of scanned products with corresponding barcode and product image database, mitigating the risk of intentional product mislabeling. According to research, more than 1% of retail revenue is lost due to checkout fraud or scanning errors, totaling more than 300 billion US dollars per year.

“ScanWatch trials in largest Baltic grocery retail chains indicated that in 0.92-0.95% of all self-checkout scans the product was not identified correctly. By harnessing computer vision, we can significantly reduce these retailer losses”, – added Budvilaitis. 

ScanWatch utilizes cameras installed in the self-checkout area to identify scanned products. ScanWatch is currently compatible with 80% of self-checkout hardware currently available on the market. 

Chairman Budvilaitis has more than 30 years of retail technology experience. Previously he co-founded New Vision Baltija (now StrongPoint), which was among the pioneers of self-checkout software and hardware deployments in the Nordic region.

Linas Svaikauskas leads ScanWatch business development. He was in charge of New Vision Baltija sales and headed the StrongPoint Technology R&D department in Lithuania and Sweden.

“There are more than a million self-checkout counters around the world, with a total market value of 8 billion USD. As retailers are moving towards autonomy and automation, the role of AI in retail technology will only increase”, – noted Svaikauskas.

For technology development, ScanWatch partnered with leading Lithuanian technology company Agmis, which also boasts an in-house AI product development team. 

“The investment marks a new stage for Agmis, as we move from software development for clients or in-house products, towards investing into end-products created by our partners. We plan to expand our investment portfolio and contribute to further growth of Lithuanian startup ecosystem”, – told CEO of Agmis Saulius Kaukenas.

ScanWatch already piloted the solution in Baltic and Nordic markets. The company will expand sales to Central Europe and Middle East markets. ScanWatch is also considering an additional investment to boost business development.