VisionAI, a German AI research laboratory, disclosed on Friday that it has successfully secured €5 million in funding, welcoming HV Capital as an additional venture capitalist to its portfolio.
As VisionAI undergoes continued growth and transformation, its strategic agenda involves deploying the recent funding to advance its international expansion.
Smaller and traditional businesses frequently grapple with staying abreast of technological innovations when juxtaposed with their more prominent industry counterparts.
VisionAI’s co-founder, Melvin Schwarz, acknowledged this technology gap in an interview with HandelsBlatt, asserting, “Ninety-five percent of online retailers find themselves trailing behind industry giants. Our mission is to furnish them with the technological means to bridge this gap.”
The company’s core objective revolves around democratizing AI technology for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), granting them the capability to harness the potential of AI in their online operations.
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The Transition from Recommendy to VisionAI
VisionAI embarked on its journey with the establishment of Recommendy, an online marketplace designed to bridge customers with product manufacturers by harnessing the visual power of product photos.
Yet, as prospective clients exhibited a heightened interest in the intrinsic technological solutions underpinning Recommendy, VisionAI underwent a pivotal shift in its business model, emerging as a formidable technology platform.
Rebranded as VisionAI at the outset of the year, the company currently boasts a workforce of 30 employees, with 18 of them dedicated to technical development, maintaining close collaboration with Bielefeld University.
Empowering Small and Medium Businesses in the Battle Against Tech Titans
Hailing from Germany, VisionAI has pioneered a comprehensive suite of AI-driven solutions dedicated to bolstering the online presence of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) while positioning them for competition with industry behemoths like Amazon and Alibaba.
This German enterprise offers an all-encompassing array of technology tools and AI solutions tailored for online retailers. Among these innovations:
- Personalized Shop-the-Look Applications: VisionAI’s AI technology proficiently identifies products within a customer’s shopping cart and creates matching outfits, delivering a tailored shopping experience.
- Cross-Selling Solutions: Retailers can harness this feature to provide product recommendations grounded in customer behavior, thereby enhancing upselling opportunities.
- Artificial Intelligence-Powered Search: A standout feature, this tool analyzes product images utilizing advanced computer vision technology, a departure from sole reliance on textual descriptions. This innovation significantly elevates search accuracy.
Remarkably, within just 15 months since its inception, the company has achieved sales totaling €1.5 million and successfully onboarded 120 customers worldwide. Notable names like New Balance, Zurbrüggen, and Intersport are among their esteemed clientele.
