Augmodo Secures $37.5M Series A to Scale Spatial AI Wearables for Retail

• Augmodo raised $37.5 million in Series A funding led by TQ Ventures, with participation from new and existing investors.
• The company’s SmartBadge™ system delivers real-time 3D store maps and inventory tracking, now expanding to hundreds of stores globally.

Augmodo, a Seattle-based startup using spatial AI wearables to modernize retail operations, has closed a $37.5 million Series A round. TQ Ventures led the investment, joined by existing backers Lerer Hippeau, NewFare, WIN, and Interlace, alongside new investors Arena Holdings and Jefferson River Capital. The funding follows a $5.3 million seed round raised less than a year ago.

Founded in 2023, Augmodo’s SmartBadge platform equips store associates with wearables that create live 3D maps of retail spaces. Its spatial AI assistant recommends real-time actions to improve stocking, ordering, and compliance. Augmodo says the SmartBadge collects data ten times more frequently than robots, costs 100 times less, and installs in under 20 minutes. Once deployed, it gathers data automatically as associates walk the aisles with no changes to the existing workflow.

“Knowing shelf gaps exist so we can diagnose and solve them is one of the biggest challenges of a supplier,” said Christian Armstrong, Chief Customer Officer of L’Oreal Australia / New Zealand, in an official press release. “We’ve tried other solutions but they only provide a rearview snapshot – Augmodo allows us to be armed with 24/7 strategic information so we can be agile to customer and store demands – Augmodo is the future.”

Retailers like Chemist Warehouse have reported significant reductions in stockouts and operational costs using the technology. Augmodo plans to scale its deployment to hundreds of stores by 2025, with over 1,000 projected in 18 months. The new funding will also support the release of a fourth-generation SmartBadge later this year.

🌀 Tom’s Take:

This is what upskilling looks like in the age of spatial computing, not replacing retail workers, but augmenting them. Smart wearables like Augmodo’s give associates real-time intelligence and agency on the floor, turning routine roles into data-rich, decision-making jobs.

Source: Business Wire / Augmodo