Porto-based Reckon, the retail tech startup that aims to become the leading supplier of European retailers, has raised a €1.5 million seed round led by Armilar Venture Partners and Portugal Ventures.
Armilar is investing through its NOS 5G Fund, which was set to support startups in adopting the fifth generation of mobile communications, and launched by NOS, the largest telco company in the country. Existing investor Bright Pixel and new investors Wisenext and Dominique Locher (Business Angel from Switzerland) also participated in the round. With the new funding, Reckon is looking to establish a strong presence in Europe and the Middle East, working with well-known names in the retail industry.
Founded in 2017, Reckon is a fast-growing startup that helps retailers and other business areas to provide their customers checkout-free, ‘grab and go’ shopping experiences. Customers can pick what they want and leave without the need to go to a cashier or scan the products. Reckon’s proprietary technology combines cloud AI algorithms, which are easily and quickly scalable without the need for on-site installations, and product recognition. This technology automatically identifies all products using their core characteristics and sensor combination, achieving higher accuracy in recognition and fraud prevention.
Reckon’s solution will have in 5G an incomparable lever for the improvement of its business model. It will allow the migration of onsite processing capacity to the cloud, with benefits at the level of efficiency and flexibility of the solution, lower latency for faster and more agile processes, and a simplification in the installation process, so it can be implemented in sales systems in any location that has mobile network coverage.
“Closing this seed round allows Reckon to enter into a new growth stage. We believe that the set of investors that we gathered will help us to accelerate the business very quickly, reaching top-priority markets in our strategy, where there is a wider adoption of this type of technology. NOS is a crucial partner for our technological strategy, and we are very thrilled to be able to count on their support and know-how, especially in 5G. Definitely, it will allow us to take our solutions to another level”, explained Ana Pinto and Paulo Ribeiro, co-founders of Reckon.
Duarte Mineiro, Partner at Armilar Venture Partners, stated: “Reckon’s seed round brought together a solid group of investors that are preparing to, alongside with the founders, respond to upcoming challenges of the company. They are both technological and commercial, guided by the demanding timings that characterize retail. Being able to have the support from NOS and its expertise in 5G will certainly be another important asset to bring this project to a safe port.”.
Rui Ferreira, Portugal Ventures’ Vice President commented: “Portugal Ventures is investing in one of the Portuguese startup’s with the greatest potential for automated solutions and the digitalisation of online purchases in the food retail sector, anticipating and addressing retailer and consumer needs. The team has designed a solution offering a full ‘grab & go’ shopping and payment experience, using AI and computer vision. The company now has the means to scale its business to the global market and help reshape the future of the sector.”
For Benjamin Junior, head of investment at Bright Pixel, “Reckon is one of the good examples of Bright Pixel’s portfolio, not only for being founded within our MVP programme but also for having shown the ability to recognise the opportunities in the retail industry and adapt its business to those trends. This combination made us accompany the team in this new phase and continue to support them on their journey.”
