Standard AI (formerly Standard Cognition)

Standard AI provides software solutions for grab-and-go checkout retail formats. The company’s product offering includes “Vision OS,” a computer vision-powered software solution, and “Standard Checkout,” a mobile checkout application. 

When a customer enters the store Vision OS creates a digital shopping cart of items they pick up using overhead cameras, computer vision, and a 3D map of the store. Customers can utilize the mobile app to enter the store and complete their purchases. Standard AI places an emphasis on the fact it does not collect biometric or facial recognition data from the customers. 

The company also offers “Standard AI Zone,” an inventory monitoring extension to its Standard AI Vision platform. The technology utilizes five cameras to monitor customer interactions with the shelf to prevent out-of-stock instances and theft. It also provides analytics, insights, and trends to understand shopper behavior and theft trends. Standard AI Zones were initially rolled out for products such as tobacco, beer, and fresh food in grab-and-go sections of stores, with plans to expand the service for other items such as lottery, cash drawer, and fuel.

Standard AI employs an acquisitive strategy toward strengthening its technology offering and geographical reach. The company’s acquisitions include computer vision AI and retail technology companies Explorer.ai (January 2019), Deep Magic (October 2019), Checkout Technologies (May 2020), and ThirdEye Labs (November 2021). In February 2023, it acquired Skip, a developer of self-checkout kiosks and mobile applications, with plans to launch an industry-first integrated solution by connecting Skip’s self-checkout solutions with its own AI-powered, autonomous checkout technology. 

Key customers and partnerships

Standard AI has partnered with 1) Paltac Corporation, a supplier to most of Japan’s small retail industry, to outfit over 3,000 stores with Standard AI’s technology (July 2018), 2)

Alimentation Couche-Tard, a Fortune Global 500 company that operates around 14,500 convenience stores worldwide to retrofit a store with Standard AI’s technology (August 2020), and 3) campus dining services provider Chartwells Higher Education to launch 100 autonomous retail stores at higher learning institutions across the US (August 2022). The company’s other customer partnerships include a minor league baseball stadium, Polar Park, in Massachusetts (September 2019), Mars Wrigley (November 2019), American Airlines Center (April 2022), pharmaceutical company Compass Group , and FLIK Hospitality Group (June 2022). 

In August 2023 Standard AI announced plans to integrate Google Cloud’s “Vertex AI” suite of tools, with the company’s portfolio of solutions that includes point of sale (PoS) solutions, self-checkout solutions, and  AI-assisted checkout solutions.

Funding and financials

In February 2021, Standard AI raised USD 150 million in a Series C funding round led by Softbank’s Vision Fund 2 The investment was reportedly the single-largest for a pure-play computer vision and autonomous checkout company and propelled Standard AI to unicorn status. The company planned to use the funding to expand its offering to over 50,000 stores over the next five years.