Pensa Systems

Pensa Systems develops quadcopter-based automated inventory monitoring systems that can scan and sense shelf conditions automatically by looking at individual products from different angles and perspectives. The quadcopters are embedded with cameras and edge-servers, to scan and sense shelf conditions, which are then processed using computer vision to generate insightful information. The system is capable of continuous learning and can identify errors missed by human inspection. The company completed a pilot program with Anheuser-Busch InBev in January 2019 and subsequently expanded into commercial deployments. It is one of the few companies in the space using a flying robot solution. In February 2022, Pensa received a US patent for its technology that can automatically distinguish between a large number of different products.

Key customers and partnerships

As of September 2021, the company has visually recognized more than three billion consumer packaged goods (CPG) product images in store shelves, from videos captured through phones and drones, with more than 98% accuracy as the company reports. Pensa’s customers include global retailer and CPG brands such as Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, General Mills, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Lund Food Holdings, and Circle K.

The company has also partnered with Microsoft to offer its shelf data intelligence and analytics platform through Microsoft Azure Marketplace and Blue Yonder (March 2022) to integrate technologies to deliver continuous shelf monitoring and compliance targeting retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands. In July 2023 , Pensa Systems, partnered with Acosta, a developer of retail intelligence solutions, to combine the capabilities of Acosta's business intelligence, analytics, in-store data collection, and merchandising solutions with Pensa’s shelf intelligence solutions.

Funding and financials

In June 2021, the company raised USD 11 million in Series A funding led by ATX Venture Partners, with participation from Circle K Ventures bringing the total funding to USD 28.2 million. The funds were expected to be used to expand operations and to hire more personnel for sales, marketing, and engineering teams.