Rewe Group

Providing a seamless consumer experience is one hope for bringing back brick and mortar retail, automated stores are being built to do just that.

Automated Stores

<div>
 
 AiFi offers a grab-and-go checkout solution powered by computer vision and AI. Its solution enables a customer to enter a store using a mobile app, pick up the items required, and exit the store to complete the purchase. The solution also generates statistics and insights on customer behavior. The company claims that its technology can track up to 500 customers while also tracking tens of thousands of items in a store. It also claims a 99% accuracy rate and can be used within a space of up to 10,000 square feet, without using facial recognition technology or storing biometric data.&nbsp;
 
 
 AiFi&rsquo;s flagship platform, &ldquo;Orchestrated Autonomous Store Infrastructure &amp; Services (OASIS)&rdquo; is designed for stores ranging from 200 square feet to 10,000 square feet and allows users to select between a fully autonomous shopping experience or a hybrid model. The stores will have a turnstile, a kiosk or door locks at the entrance, which the customer can interact with to gain access to the store.&nbsp; It also can be integrated with existing payments, inventory management, and electronic shelf labeling systems. The stores operate on a subscription-based model, and the company guarantees 12 months to achieve a return on investment (ROI).
 
 
 AiFi leverages the OASIS platform to offer retail clients the option of deploying an AiFi NanoStore, a custom-designed, fully-automated, container-sized, unmanned, checkout-free store format that can be operated 24/7. The NanoStores come in sizes of 160, 300 and 370 square feet specifications. Company claims that its technology can save around USD 20 per hour of operation.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of February 2023, AiFi&rsquo;s technology was deployed at over 100 stores globally. In January 2022, AiFi launched its largest store, a 6,000 sq ft Aldi location in London. AiFi&rsquo;s key partnerships include Carrefour (November 2018) in the UAE, Zabka (February 2019), Wundermart (February 2021), PostNL (May 2021), Morrisons (July 2021), Aldi (January 2022), Compass Group (December 2021), Kende Gastro (January 2022) in Europe, Loop Neighborhood (January 2020), Choice Market (April 2021), Verizon (May 2021)
 , Acrisure Arena (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29120">
 May 2024
 </a>
 ) 
 in the US, and AiGo (December 2020) in China.
 
 
 AiFi also has a partnership with Microsoft (January 2023) to launch a cloud-based analytics service for cashier-less stores. In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9389">
 March 2022
 </a>
 AiFi partnered with Sodexo, the French campus food service operator, to bring autonomous grocery stores to campuses across the US.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 By 2022, AiFi reportedly had revenue growth of 5&ndash;6x YoY. In March 2022, AiFi raised USD 65 million in a Series B funding round led by Canada-based investment management firm Khaira CapitalAiFi. It planned to leverage the new funding to scale partnerships, strengthen its deployment team for faster store rollouts, and invest in product development and feature enhancement.
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Trigo is an Israel-based provider of computer vision-powered grab-and-go checkout solutions for retailers. Trigo&rsquo;s computer vision-powered software solution, &ldquo;EasyOut,&rdquo; uses cameras and shelf sensors to track items picked up by customers in a store.&nbsp;
 
 
 Trigo provides three software solutions for automated checkouts as follows:
 
 
 1) &ldquo;EasyOut app&rdquo; is a mobile phone-based checkout app that can be integrated with existing retail mobile apps. It enables shoppers to scan a QR code at the exit to pay for their purchases and obtain a receipt to the mobile device
 
 
 2) EasyOut Tap is a POS solution enables customers to pay by tapping their credit or debit cards
 
 
 3) EasyOut Station is a computer vision solution that can be retrofitted to self-checkout kiosks to track customer purchases in real time and maintain real-time receipts of the customer baskets. EasyOut also provides store analytics reports and dashboards with insights on store traffic, shopper behavior, and customer insights.&nbsp;
 
 
 Trigo&rsquo;s solutions are priced based on the store size and are available on a subscription basis with an additional outright charge for the hardware cost.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 The company has entered into multiple partnerships with well-established grocery retailers to deploy its automated checkout systems. The company has partnerships with retailers such as 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6061">
 Tesco
 </a>
 in the UK (October 2019),
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5796">
 Aldi Nord
 </a>
 in the Netherlands (October 2021), 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11425">
 REWE
 </a>
 (May 2021) and 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7590">
 Netto
 </a>
 in Germany (December 2021), 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12935">
 Shufersal
 </a>
 in Israel (September 2022), 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7813">
 Wakefern Food Corp
 </a>
 in the US (January 2022), and Auchan in France (May 2023).&nbsp;
 
 
 Trigo has also leveraged other types of B2B partnerships to accelerate the roll-out of autonomous stores. In June 2021, the company joined the Google Cloud Partner ecosystem to leverage Google Cloud&rsquo;s relationships with leading retailers, with teams from both companies working together to support retailers in their digital transformations.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In October 2022, Trigo raised USD 100 million in a funding round led by Singapore investment firm Temasek. Germany&rsquo;s SAP SE was a strategic backer of the round and planned to work with its own retailer customers to help integrate Trigo into its systems. The company planned to use the funds to focus on three core initiatives: 1) expanding the company&rsquo;s autonomous retail platform, 2) building increasingly larger stores, and 3) executing a pipeline of contracted stores around the world. The company was to also invest in building its StoreOS software for inventory tracking, store management, and data collection.&nbsp;
 
</div>

Marketplaces and related solutions for selling goods and services online

Ecommerce Platforms

<div>
 
 commercetools is the largest and fastest growing enterprise commerce platform with a cloud-native and API-first architecture. We power the top performing Fortune 1000 and enable our customers to adapt and scale in a fast changing market through most flexible technologies. We are recognized by Forrester, Gartner, and IDC as a leading software company within the commerce industry. We are funded by the leading technology investors Insight Partners and Accel. With offices in the United States (Durham/North Carolina), Germany (Munich, Berlin, Jena), the Netherlands (Amsterdam), Great Britain (London), Spain (Valencia), Singapore, Vietnam and Australia (Melbourne) we are serving our customers across the globe - 24x7. commercetools powers the (e)commerce sites and businesses of companies like Lululemon, H&M, Peleton, Audi, Bang & Olufson, Vistaprint, Lego, and Volkswagen.
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Home24 SE markets, sells, and ships furniture and home furnishings. Its large furniture products comprise living and dining furniture products, including chairs, tables, and drawers, upholstery products that comprise sofas, armchairs, and ottomans, bedroom furniture products, such as beds, wardrobes, and mattresses, and other products consisting of garden, office, and bathroom products. 
 
 
 Home24's small furniture products include lightning products, such as interior and ceiling lights, and table lamps, accessories comprising decorations, curtains, and pillows, and other products, including mirrors, shelves, and cabinets. It sells its products primarily under the Home24, Mobly, Ars Manufacti, Ars Natura, Fredriks, Jack &amp; Alice, Masion Belfort, Mooved, Eva Padberg, and Smood brand names.
 
 
 Home24 serves through a network of seven showrooms in Germany and Austria, as well as online channels, such as Websites and apps. It also operates in Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Brazil.
 
 
 Christoph Cordes, Felix Jahn, Marc Appelhoff, and Philipp Kreibohm founded Home24 in 2009. Its headquarters is in Berlin in Germany.
 
</div>

Automation and robotics are finally creating solutions for the complexities of doorstep deliveries.

Last-mile Delivery Automation

Wingcopter is a German startup that offers drone-based services for applications including medical deliveries, infrastructure inspection, research purposes, and wildlife conservation. Its latest delivery drone model, called “Wingcopter 198,” can carry a maximum payload of 10.4 lbs, cruising at speeds of up to 56 mph, covering a range of 58 miles. The drones come with sensors including dual airspeed sensors, dual heading, and positioning systems to facilitate control of the system. It is also equipped with patented tilt-rotor technology, which enables the drones to withstand wind and fly in harsh conditions. The drones are designed to deliver up to three separate packages to multiple locations in one flight and to support Level 4 autonomous flying (fully autonomous but limited to specific locations and/or conditions; these features are in development as of March 2024). The drone received approval for airworthiness criteria from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10338">May 2022,</a> as a part of its process of obtaining Type Certification (approval of the aircraft design and components). It also applied for Type Certification in Japan <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28402">in April 2024.</a>The company operates as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for drones in addition to offering drone delivery-as-a-service. The company has conducted drone-based deliveries in countries including Germany, Ireland, Scotland, the US, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/122">Japan,</a> Kenya, Vanuatu, Malawi, and Latin America (including <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8184">Peru).</a>Key customers and partnershipsThe company has conducted delivery trials in Germany in partnership with several parties including Merck and the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (UAS) for inter-office deliveries (February 2020; a pilot with Frankfurt UAS for consumer goods deliveries in rural areas in September 2022); Greifswald University Hospital and German air ambulance service DRF Luftrettung for blood sample deliveries (September 2021); and a pilot project called LieferMichel to deliver everyday goods to residents in remote areas of Michelstadt, Hesse, since <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22482">October 2023.</a>Wingcopter offers its technology to third-party drone and aviation companies like UPS Flight Forward (March 2020), Air Methods and its subsidiary Spright <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7988">(August 2021),</a> Flying Labs <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/88">(February 2021),</a> and Zeitfracht Group and its subsidiary German Airways <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9494">(March 2022).</a> The company’s authorized partners for product distribution include SYNERJET for distribution in Latin America (October 2021), ITOCHU for distribution in Japan <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9423">(March 2022),</a> and Continental Drones for distribution in Africa <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10561">(May 2022).</a>The company also has a product partnership with ZAL to develop hydrogen-powered drones <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17121">(March 2023).</a>Funding and financials<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18412">In May 2023,</a> Wingcopter received EUR 40 million (approximately USD 44 million) in quasi-equity financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the investment arm of the European Union. The company intended to utilize the funds to further develop its hardware and launch a new business related to drone-based logistics and delivery services. The company planned to expand operations to Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

A new wave of meat, fish, and poultry alternatives are driving this hyper-growth industry into the mainstream.

Plant-based Meat

<div>
 
 Infinite Roots (Mushlabs prior to November 2023) is a Berlin-based biotech startup focused on developing food from edible mushroom mycelia. The company uses bioreactors to create a liquid fermentation process for the roots of mushrooms (mycelium) turning them into biomass that eventually becomes a meat alternative.&nbsp;
 
 
 The company is committed to sustainability and supply chain security and as such does not use wheat, peas, or soy (three of the most popular alternative meat protein bases) to reduce dependency on agricultural cycles. According to the company, its mycelia production process eliminates the need for land, fertilizers, and pesticides and reduces water footprint and CO2 emissions by 97% and 90%, respectively.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11619">
 July 2022
 </a>
 , Infinite Roots partnered with one of Germany&rsquo;s largest private breweries, Bitburger Brewing Group to upcycle byproducts from the production of beer. Together the companies will work towards achieving a lower carbon footprint for the company by providing increased production capacity for the efficient production of protein through fermentation. 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26954">
 February 2024
 </a>
 , the company partnered with South Korean food manufacturer Pulmuone to develop and distribute alternative protein products in South Korea.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In its latest funding round in 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25920">
 January 2024
 </a>
 , the company raised EUR 58 million (~USD 63 million) in Series B funding led by Dr. Hans Riegel Holding, a holding company of Haribo, with participation from EIC Fund, REWE Group, and others. The funding was earmarked for the company's next phase of commercial growth including expansion of production capacity and global product launch efforts
 
 
 
</div>

Tech solutions for achieving global anti-wastage targets

Food Waste

<div>
 
 Mushlabs, is a Berlin-based startup that upcycles food waste into mycelium. Mushlabs uses mycelial cells and its proprietary fermentation process to upcycle nutrients from side-streams such as spent coffee grounds, fruit peels, and sugarcane bagasse in the agro and food industries. The upcycled nutrient in liquid form is used in its fermentation process which allows it to control growth parameters such as temperature and pH levels to improve the growth rate of its mycelium. The company claims that its process is at least 5x faster and yields at least 1,000x more mushroom flesh per square meter per year when compared to traditional mushroom production. MushLabs focuses on upcycling the byproducts and supplying them to the agricultural, and food, and beverage sectors. 
 
 
 
 In July 2022, it partnered with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11659">
 Bitburger Brewery Group
 </a>
 , one of Germany’s largest private breweries to use the latters’ byproducts to produce edible fermented mycelium. The mycelium will be used to produce nutrient-rich, minimally processed foods. In addition,  Bitburger will also provide MushLabs with increased production capacity to support the latter in scaling operations. Through the partnership, MushLabs also expects to improve sustainability further, given that raw materials won’t require transportation. 
 
 
 In August 2020, the company raised USD 10 million in a Series A funding round co-led by VisVires New Protein and Redalpine. The funds were to be used to increase production and help MushLabs to primarily focus on growing its B2B business.
 
 
 
 
 
</div>

Infinite Roots is a technology-driven company that produces food from edible mushroom mycelia. Its patented technologies enable the development of diverse and versatile food products based on edible mushroom mycelium.

Flink is a developer of an online platform used to offer and deliver multi-category grocery products. Its application offers a wide selection of convenience items like fresh herbs, fruits, bread, essentials, and home supplies among others that enable people to get necessaries delivered to the door within ten minutes while saving transit costs. The company was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.

sykell is a producer of reusable packaging designed to take the place of single-use packaging. The company provides scalable and environmentally friendly packaging and pooling containers for the retail, food service, and hospitality industries. The containers are recovered, reprocessed, and reused for a new product after each use. The company also provides an all-inclusive service that includes the use, delivery, washing, and recollection of used containers. This enables food brands to switch from wasteful single-use packaging to a circular zero-waste model and lessen their environmental impact.

Trigo is a technology company that builds AI-powered infrastructure for retail stores.

Wingcopter is a German manufacturer of eVTOL, fixed-wing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and provider of drone delivery services, focused on optimizing medical supply chains, as well as last-mile logistics of packages, tools, spare parts, food, and groceries. The 120-strong team is dedicated to improving and saving lives worldwide through meaningful commercial and humanitarian applications.  Thanks to its patented tilt-rotor mechanism and software algorithms, the Wingcopter 198 can take off and land vertically like a multicopter, while flying long distances as efficiently and quickly as a fixed-wing aircraft, even in heavy rain and wind.  In 2020, Wingcopter was named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.

AiFi provides the most flexible AI platform that enables retailers to affordably deploy and scale autonomous shopping solutions across their businesses. Leveraging computer vision, AiFi adapts to existing store formats without the need for shelf sensors, and provides advanced tracking algorithms that can scale up to 10,000 square feet to support various shopper journeys such as an app, credit card, gated, or hybrid entry. AiFi works with top retailers worldwide such as ALDI South Group, Carrefour, Compass Group, Morrisons, Żabka Group, REWE, and Verizon. AiFi has the highest number of computer vision powered autonomous stores across the globe. The company has raised a total of $80 million from investors including Verizon Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, HP Tech Ventures, Mithril Capital, Cervin Ventures, TransLink Capital, Plum Alley, Duke Angel Network, Reaction, GS Future, Drive Catalyst, and Evolution. For more information, please visit aifi.com.

SK Gaming is an international multi-gaming organisation, gathering together top players of each gaming discipline and upcoming talent.

Over the last decade, businesses have struggled to adjust digital commerce experiences at the same pace as consumer behavior, preferences and the rapidly diversifying touchpoints that have emerged (e.g. web, smartphone, tablet, POS). This constant state of change required the technical agility to quickly test and co-opt new trends and technologies to meet true omnichannel demands. Simultaneously, online revenues were growing at a pace over 4x projections, which put pressure on the IT infrastructure and operations teams to scale.  commercetools identified this paradigm market shift early, and reinvented the approach to digital commerce with its cloud-native, component-based, tech-agnostic, composable platform. It is easy to learn, enterprise market-ready and scalable to support even the largest B2B and B2C enterprises. With commercetools, brands across the globe have unlimited flexibility to deliver outstanding, scalable commerce experiences, and take advantage of new markets and revenue-generating opportunities at their own pace –– with limited technical or operational risks. Today, commercetools is recognized as a market leader in enterprise commerce technology, and the fastest growing company globally in this domain, serving major brands including Audi, Danone, Eurorail, NBCUniversal, Sephora and Volkswagen Group.

Barzahlen is a bank-independent cash infrastructure that allows cash withdrawals and deposits at checkout via barcode. The company offers digital payment options with cash and revolutionizes traditional banking. They offer their customers the possibility of cash deposits and expanding their withdrawal network.

Home24 SE markets, sells, and ships furniture and home furnishings. Its large furniture products comprise living and dining furniture products, including chairs, tables, and drawers, upholstery products that comprise sofas, armchairs, and ottomans, bedroom furniture products, such as beds, wardrobes, and mattresses, and other products consisting of garden, office, and bathroom products.  Home24's small furniture products include lightning products, such as interior and ceiling lights, and table lamps, accessories comprising decorations, curtains, and pillows, and other products, including mirrors, shelves, and cabinets. It sells its products primarily under the Home24, Mobly, Ars Manufacti, Ars Natura, Fredriks, Jack & Alice, Masion Belfort, Mooved, Eva Padberg, and Smood brand names.  Home24 serves through a network of seven showrooms in Germany and Austria, as well as online channels, such as Websites and apps. It also operates in Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Brazil.  Christoph Cordes, Felix Jahn, Marc Appelhoff, and Philipp Kreibohm founded Home24 in 2009. Its headquarters is in Berlin in Germany.

Rewe Group was founded in 1927 as a purchasing cooperative by independent merchants. Even today, the members of their cooperative, the independent merchants, are an important part of their trading and tourism company.

<div> Rewe Group was founded in 1927 as a purchasing cooperative by independent merchants. Even today, the members of their cooperative, the independent merchants, are an important part of their trading and tourism company. </div>

Rewe Group

Recent Updates

Trigo partners with REWE Group to deploy computer vision-based shopping at self-checkout terminals

REWE Group partners with Planet A Foods to launch cocoa-free chocolate products

Clevon extends partnership with IKI to deploy ADVs in more cities in Lithuania

Clevon partners with IKI to deploy ADVs in Lithuania

Cartken to launch droid-based deliveries in Hamburg-Eimsbuttel For REWE’s customers

Einride to supply seven electric trucks for REWE’s delivery fleet

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