Aifi

Market position

AiFi has been described in press coverage as a rival to Amazon Go in cashierless retail. As of its March 2022 Series B announcement the company said it had the highest number of computer vision powered autonomous stores globally, and in December 2022 co-founder Ying Zheng described AiFi as the world's largest autonomous store platform with over 80 stores operating globally.

AiFi's stated differentiation is a camera-only approach that avoids weighted shelves and shelf sensors, adapts to existing store formats and hardware, and scales to larger footprints than typical sensor-based systems. The company also contrasts its full-space 3D digital twin and journey-level tracking with computer vision systems that analyze pixels from isolated camera views, and highlights privacy-by-design operation that is anonymous by default, GDPR-compliant and ISO 27001 certified.

Technology

The core technology is camera-based computer vision combined with neural networks for people tracking, product recognition and activity recognition. AiFi does not require weighted shelves or shelf sensors, which it says reduces deployment cost and time, and it can work with existing ceiling-mounted security cameras, supplemented where coverage gaps exist. The platform constructs a real-time 3D digital twin of a space to follow complete shopper journeys and apply business logic. Identity is not used by default and personal data is not stored; where identity is needed for access control or payment, AiFi integrates with third-party authentication or facial recognition providers. The company also works on edge computing, with investors citing its approach to moving business intelligence from the cloud to the wireless edge and combining its technology with 5G and mobile edge computing.

Go-to-market

AiFi goes to market through direct partnerships with major retail chains and venue operators, co-developing formats with clients and expanding from pilot stores to broader rollouts. Its founders describe learning the retail domain through partnerships with Carrefour and Żabka, and several retail partners have taken equity stakes alongside financial and corporate investors.

Large grocery and convenience retailers, specialty retail, quick-service restaurants, stadium and event operators, and travel hubs such as airports. Named customers and partners include ALDI South Group, Carrefour, Compass Group, Morrisons, Żabka Group, REWE, Majid al Futtaim and Verizon.

Geography

Headquartered at 2388 Walsh Ave, Santa Clara, California, USA. Autonomous stores have been launched in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Dubai, Poland and China, with additional deployments in Ireland.

History

Founded in 2016, AiFi emerged from stealth in February 2018 with a cashier-free retail approach compared to Amazon Go, and won Nvidia's Inception AI award for best enterprise startup that year, sharing a $1 million prize with two other winners. In January 2019 it marketed NanoStore, a white-label cashierless store format. The company raised a Series A after building its MVP and grew from three employees to 20 and then over 100. It scaled deployments with European and Middle Eastern retailers from 2019 onward and raised a $65 million Series B in March 2022. Co-founder Steve Gu is described as the former CEO. The company's positioning has since broadened from autonomous checkout to spatial intelligence across venues, restaurants and travel hubs.

Risks & controversies

The platform relies on camera surveillance of physical spaces, making privacy and data protection compliance central; AiFi addresses this with anonymous-by-default operation, no storage of personal data, GDPR compliance and ISO 27001 certification, activating identity features only through third-party providers when required. Leadership has changed, with co-founder Steve Gu identified as former CEO.