DIpil Das
On February 18, 2021, Coresight Research hosted a pitch competition between five retail technology innovators for the opportunity to host an exclusive webinar with Coresight Research that will support the winner’s outreach to the industry and promote thought leadership.
In this report, we present highlights from the pitches of the five competing companies, as well as from the presentations of three early-stage startups founded during the Covid-19 pandemic, which presented their businesses while the judges deliberated. We also reveal the winner of the pitch competition.
Sean Snyder, Founder and President of Engagement Agents, presents a case study of the company’s solutions
Source: Coresight Research [/caption] Inspectorio Inspectorio optimizes the supply chain for retailers by enhancing visibility from the factory floor all the way to the store. David Klein, President and Co-Founder of Inspectorio, emphasized the company’s ability to help retailers improve collaboration and visibility across the value chain by consolidating supply chain data into one platform. Klein indicated that currently, communication across the supply chain is limited, leading to a lack of actionable insights being delivered from supply chain data. Inspectorio connects the supply chain from end to end, automating supply chain communication and leveraging machine learning to provide prescriptive actionable insights to retailers. The company already works with 23 of the largest brands and retailers around the world and has over 15,000 network participants between factories, vendors, brands and retailers. The company has also seen 120% growth over the past 12 months, according to Klein. [caption id="attachment_123747" align="aligncenter" width="725"]
Inspectorio President and Co-Founder David Klein outlines the company’s achievements over the past 12 months
Source: Coresight Research [/caption] Newmine Newmine is a retail technology innovator that aims to disrupt the returns management market with returns solutions driven by artificial intelligence (AI). Founder and CEO Navjit Bhasin said that consumers have grown spoiled with fast, free, easy shipping and now fast, free, easy returns, increasing the cost of returns to retailers and to the planet. While reducing returns significantly may seem like an impossible task, Newmine estimates that 65% of all returns are caused by a problem that is within the retailer’s control. Newmine’s Chief Returns Officer software platform leverages retailer data, product data reviews and more to help retailers understand the root causes of their returns. The solution also provides prescriptive actions to retailers to optimize returns management. [caption id="attachment_123748" align="aligncenter" width="725"]
Newmine Founder and CEO Navjit Bhasin pitches Newmine’s Chief Returns Officer solution
Source: Coresight Research [/caption] Nexite Nexite’s Connected Merchandise Platform collects and integrates data from merchandise in real time, helping retailers stay agile and make fast, informed decisions. Willy Rotstein, Chief Commercial Officer at Nexite, outlined how Nexite’s smart tag system can attach to retail items and transmit data to the cloud. Unlike existing technology, Nexite’s tags do not require any external power source and transmit constantly, without requiring scanning. This solution can help retailers gain better visibility into the consumer journey and “bring merchandise to life” along the entire supply chain. An added benefit of Nexite’s system is fraud prevention. Each of Nexite’s tags are encrypted and have a unique identifier, helping to combat potential counterfeiting. [caption id="attachment_123749" align="aligncenter" width="725"]
Nexite’s Chief Commercial Officer Willy Rotstein identifies the problems the company aims to solve
Source: Coresight Research [/caption] Savitude Savitude’s AI-driven fashion platform enables developers to design more efficiently and sustainably while retaining creativity. Camilla Olson, Founder and CEO of Savitude, highlighted how the digital design solution enables merchandisers to work from a selection of inspirational, trend and brand images to create automatically generated original fashion designs that fit within the “brand DNA” of the retailer or brand. Savitude also enables designers to easily design products that will fit all body shapes and sizes, not just the traditional hourglass shape. Olsen explained how the platform can be used to the benefit of consumers, enabling them to customize their clothing and better find clothes that fit them and flatter their body shape. [caption id="attachment_123750" align="aligncenter" width="725"]
Savitude Founder and CEO Camilla Olson discusses the platform’s features
Source: Coresight Research [/caption] Three Early-Stage Innovators Present While the judges deliberated, the event spotlighted three emerging retail brands that presented their businesses. We summarize highlights from these presentations below. Auda.B Tamara Walker, CEO and Founder of Auda.B, presented the beauty brand’s vegan nail lacquer products to the Innovator Showcase audience. The brand aims to reimagine how women of color experience beauty, taking a digitally focused approach to do so. Walker said that minority markets have $3.9 trillion in buying power in the US, but still remain underserved when it comes to luxury, clean beauty products. Auda.B produces skin products for all skin tones and enables customers to experience products in real time to ensure they fit their skin tone. Moving forward, the company aims to partner with more retailers to grow its business and generate more customer access points. Fifth & Cherry Tim Reazor, Co-Founder of Fifth & Cherry, detailed his company’s offerings of high-quality cutting boards, beginning with the story of how he came to found the company. Reazor recalled the times he spent cooking with his mother and said that he still uses the rolling pin that they would work with together. These fond memories led Reazor to design a kitchen product to last lifetimes in the current “disposable” world. Fifth & Cherry cutting boards, which are steel reinforced and designed for durability, are designed to be the last cutting boards consumers ever own, and to be passed down for generations as family heirlooms. The Good Charcoal Company Ben Jablonski, Co-Founder of The Good Charcoal Company, outlined his company’s sustainable charcoal offerings. The company’s charcoal is made from Namibian bush, which multiple independent organizations have certified as environmentally responsible. The unique source of the charcoal also makes it able to burn hotter than normal charcoal currently on the market, making a 15-pound bag of The Good Charcoal equivalent to a 25-pound bag of other leading brands, according to The Good Charcoal Company. The company is also dedicated to helping feed Americans in need: Each week, The Good Charcoal Company hosts free barbecues to help those in need. The Winner of the Pitch Competiton The judges crowned Inspectorio the winner of the pitch competition. The company will receive a complementary webinar hosted by Coresight Research. Inspectorio President and Co-Founder David Klein said, “It feels great to have this recognition as we continue to push forward in this journey… to make the industry more transparent, more efficient and ultimately, making the world a better place.” Look out for the opportunity to join Inspectorio's webinar; Coresight Research will post details about the event on our website soon.
Coresight Research Innovator Showcase: Five Competing Innovators
The Innovator Showcase involved pitches from five technology companies: Engagement Agents, Inspectorio, Newmine, Nexite and Savitude. Executives from each company pitched their company’s innovative solutions to a panel of three judges: David Matthews, Managing Director of RevTech Ventures, a retail venture capital firm; Rob Mills, Chief Technology, Digital Commerce and Strategy Officer at Tractor Supply Company; and Melissa Campanelli, Co-Founder of the Women in Retail Leadership Circle. After each pitch, judges had an opportunity to ask questions of the presenting executives. The judges considered five criteria when voting:- Confidence—Would you invest the business?
- Team—Do you have confidence in the team to execute?
- MarketOpportunity—Does the company address a big problem or area of opportunity?
- Business—How feasible is the business model?
- Potential—Will the company be able to scale?
Sean Snyder, Founder and President of Engagement Agents, presents a case study of the company’s solutions Source: Coresight Research [/caption] Inspectorio Inspectorio optimizes the supply chain for retailers by enhancing visibility from the factory floor all the way to the store. David Klein, President and Co-Founder of Inspectorio, emphasized the company’s ability to help retailers improve collaboration and visibility across the value chain by consolidating supply chain data into one platform. Klein indicated that currently, communication across the supply chain is limited, leading to a lack of actionable insights being delivered from supply chain data. Inspectorio connects the supply chain from end to end, automating supply chain communication and leveraging machine learning to provide prescriptive actionable insights to retailers. The company already works with 23 of the largest brands and retailers around the world and has over 15,000 network participants between factories, vendors, brands and retailers. The company has also seen 120% growth over the past 12 months, according to Klein. [caption id="attachment_123747" align="aligncenter" width="725"]
Inspectorio President and Co-Founder David Klein outlines the company’s achievements over the past 12 months Source: Coresight Research [/caption] Newmine Newmine is a retail technology innovator that aims to disrupt the returns management market with returns solutions driven by artificial intelligence (AI). Founder and CEO Navjit Bhasin said that consumers have grown spoiled with fast, free, easy shipping and now fast, free, easy returns, increasing the cost of returns to retailers and to the planet. While reducing returns significantly may seem like an impossible task, Newmine estimates that 65% of all returns are caused by a problem that is within the retailer’s control. Newmine’s Chief Returns Officer software platform leverages retailer data, product data reviews and more to help retailers understand the root causes of their returns. The solution also provides prescriptive actions to retailers to optimize returns management. [caption id="attachment_123748" align="aligncenter" width="725"]
Newmine Founder and CEO Navjit Bhasin pitches Newmine’s Chief Returns Officer solution Source: Coresight Research [/caption] Nexite Nexite’s Connected Merchandise Platform collects and integrates data from merchandise in real time, helping retailers stay agile and make fast, informed decisions. Willy Rotstein, Chief Commercial Officer at Nexite, outlined how Nexite’s smart tag system can attach to retail items and transmit data to the cloud. Unlike existing technology, Nexite’s tags do not require any external power source and transmit constantly, without requiring scanning. This solution can help retailers gain better visibility into the consumer journey and “bring merchandise to life” along the entire supply chain. An added benefit of Nexite’s system is fraud prevention. Each of Nexite’s tags are encrypted and have a unique identifier, helping to combat potential counterfeiting. [caption id="attachment_123749" align="aligncenter" width="725"]
Nexite’s Chief Commercial Officer Willy Rotstein identifies the problems the company aims to solve Source: Coresight Research [/caption] Savitude Savitude’s AI-driven fashion platform enables developers to design more efficiently and sustainably while retaining creativity. Camilla Olson, Founder and CEO of Savitude, highlighted how the digital design solution enables merchandisers to work from a selection of inspirational, trend and brand images to create automatically generated original fashion designs that fit within the “brand DNA” of the retailer or brand. Savitude also enables designers to easily design products that will fit all body shapes and sizes, not just the traditional hourglass shape. Olsen explained how the platform can be used to the benefit of consumers, enabling them to customize their clothing and better find clothes that fit them and flatter their body shape. [caption id="attachment_123750" align="aligncenter" width="725"]
Savitude Founder and CEO Camilla Olson discusses the platform’s features Source: Coresight Research [/caption] Three Early-Stage Innovators Present While the judges deliberated, the event spotlighted three emerging retail brands that presented their businesses. We summarize highlights from these presentations below. Auda.B Tamara Walker, CEO and Founder of Auda.B, presented the beauty brand’s vegan nail lacquer products to the Innovator Showcase audience. The brand aims to reimagine how women of color experience beauty, taking a digitally focused approach to do so. Walker said that minority markets have $3.9 trillion in buying power in the US, but still remain underserved when it comes to luxury, clean beauty products. Auda.B produces skin products for all skin tones and enables customers to experience products in real time to ensure they fit their skin tone. Moving forward, the company aims to partner with more retailers to grow its business and generate more customer access points. Fifth & Cherry Tim Reazor, Co-Founder of Fifth & Cherry, detailed his company’s offerings of high-quality cutting boards, beginning with the story of how he came to found the company. Reazor recalled the times he spent cooking with his mother and said that he still uses the rolling pin that they would work with together. These fond memories led Reazor to design a kitchen product to last lifetimes in the current “disposable” world. Fifth & Cherry cutting boards, which are steel reinforced and designed for durability, are designed to be the last cutting boards consumers ever own, and to be passed down for generations as family heirlooms. The Good Charcoal Company Ben Jablonski, Co-Founder of The Good Charcoal Company, outlined his company’s sustainable charcoal offerings. The company’s charcoal is made from Namibian bush, which multiple independent organizations have certified as environmentally responsible. The unique source of the charcoal also makes it able to burn hotter than normal charcoal currently on the market, making a 15-pound bag of The Good Charcoal equivalent to a 25-pound bag of other leading brands, according to The Good Charcoal Company. The company is also dedicated to helping feed Americans in need: Each week, The Good Charcoal Company hosts free barbecues to help those in need. The Winner of the Pitch Competiton The judges crowned Inspectorio the winner of the pitch competition. The company will receive a complementary webinar hosted by Coresight Research. Inspectorio President and Co-Founder David Klein said, “It feels great to have this recognition as we continue to push forward in this journey… to make the industry more transparent, more efficient and ultimately, making the world a better place.” Look out for the opportunity to join Inspectorio's webinar; Coresight Research will post details about the event on our website soon.