Auror

Market position

Auror describes itself as operating the largest Retail Crime Intelligence network, reporting more than 3,500 connected law enforcement agencies and 85,000+ retail stores, including over 58,000 stores in North America. Press coverage notes the platform is used by over half of Australia's retailers and cites a global retail crime problem estimated at $180 billion.

Positioned against traditional case management tools by combining frictionless incident capture with a cross-retailer, cross-jurisdiction shared intelligence network and direct law enforcement collaboration; investors have described the business as exhibiting a strong data network effect.

Technology

A cloud platform for structured retail incident capture that links cases across stores and retailers, generates offender profiles, performs pattern analysis and activity spike detection, and supports license plate recognition and evidence capture from CCTV. It uses privacy-by-design principles, granular sharing permissions, role-based access and 256-bit SSL encryption, and integrates with Axon Evidence for secure transfer of packaged intelligence to agencies.

Go-to-market

Direct enterprise sales and demos to retailers and law enforcement agencies, supported by customer case studies, webinars and content marketing, plus participation in industry bodies and associations such as CLEAR, the Loss Prevention Foundation, LPRC, the National Retail Federation, RILA, the Australian Retail Council, the AACS, the Retail Trust and the Biometrics Institute, and collaboration with Organized Retail Crime Associations in the US.

Large retail chains and their loss prevention and asset protection teams, and police and law enforcement agencies. Named or referenced users include Woolworths NZ, The Warehouse Group, The Reject Shop, Holland & Barrett, Morrisons, Boots, REI, Cosentino's Food Stores, Bunnings, Coles, Myer and Schenectady PD.

Geography

Headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, with offices in Melbourne (Australia), Denver/Colorado (US), London (UK) and Canada. Customers span North and South America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

History

Founded in 2012, Auror first proved its platform with a large New Zealand supermarket and the NZ Police, becoming the retail crime technology partner used by NZ Police. In 2018 it onboarded one of Australia's largest supermarkets, established a Melbourne base, and began engaging retailers in the UK, Europe and Canada. In 2019 it rebuilt the platform for global scale and expanded into the United States, onboarding its first North American enterprise retailer and opening a Colorado office. In November 2024 it closed an NZ$82 million Series C round led by Axon Enterprise, W23 Global and Reinventure, following an NZ$30 million raise in 2021. The company reports a workforce of more than 200 across five countries, with Auckland as its largest office and site of R&D, plus offices in Australia, the United States (Denver), the United Kingdom (London) and Canada.

Risks & controversies

Auror's data-sharing practices have drawn privacy scrutiny. Australia's Information Commissioner, Angelene Falk, opened an investigation into the platform on 2 February 2024 relating to its use by Australian federal police and concerns over biometric data and license plate tracking; the Commissioner ultimately decided not to pursue the inquiry, but privacy advocates have continued to raise concerns about vehicle location tracking and vehicle alerting features.