Paris-based AI startup Veesion has secured <\/span>\u20ac38mn<\/span> to fuel expansion to the US \u2014 where it looks to help cure the country\u2019s shoplifting \u201cepidemic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Veesion\u2019s AI-based computer vision software is trained to spot gestures in security camera feeds, such as a shopper putting an item in their pocket. If it sees something suspicious, the AI pings the store owner or security guard via an app, where it displays a recording of the activity. The user then makes the final judgment on whether the situation qualifies as theft.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The software comes in a small box that plugs into a shop\u2019s existing CCTV system. To protect privacy, the system only registers human movements, not identifying information like a person\u2019s face or clothing, the company said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Security cameras are common in most retail outlets. However, Veesion\u2019s CEO and co-founder Thibault David said he thinks they are \u201ccompletely useless.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The \ud83d\udc9c of EU tech<\/p>\n The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cCameras in shops are rarely used, because they require a human to keep watch on them,\u201d he told TNW.<\/span><\/p>\n Founded in 2018, Veesion\u2019s AI shoplifter-spotter is already installed in over 6,000 stores in 25 countries, including France, the UK, Brazil and the US, where it is now looking to expand.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 2022, US retailers <\/span>reported<\/span> inventory losses amounting to $112bn <\/span>(\u20ac100bn)<\/span>, $40.3bn <\/span>(\u20ac36bn) <\/span>of which was attributed to shoplifting. Meanwhile, the UK, with a population around a quarter of the US, is also experiencing a rise in incidents of shoplifting. The country suffered <\/span>losses<\/span> of <\/span>\u00a32.2bn (\u20ac2.5bn) in 2023, according to a recent survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShoplifting is a huge pain point for retail stores, especially in the US, which is suffering from a theft epidemic,\u201d said David.<\/span><\/p>\n However, spotting the crime is just one part of the puzzle \u2014 confronting shoplifters is another. According to the same BRC survey, <\/span>violence and abuse against UK shop workers rose by 50% in 2023, with more than 2,000 such incidents recorded on average per day. In both the UK and the US, <\/span>enforcement<\/span> against shoplifters is <\/span>free-falling<\/span>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As retailers struggle to keep pace with rising theft, some are turning to technology for support. While Veesion\u2019s AI doesn\u2019t promise to solve shoplifting outright, it might give store owners better tools to detect it and decide how to respond.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As part of its US expansion plans, Veesion will open an office in Florida that aims to employ about 50 people. One of its co-founders, <\/span>Beno\u00eet Koenig, is also moving across the Atlantic permanently as part of the company\u2019s expanded presence in the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Looking ahead, Vession hopes to use its computer vision technology to spot other issues in retail stores, such as falling or slipping risks. It\u2019s also considering expanding to other sectors like manufacturing and healthcare.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n AI\u2019s evolution<\/span>\u00a0will be a hot topic at\u00a0<\/span>TNW Conference, which takes place on June 19-20 in Amsterdam. Tickets for the event are\u00a0<\/span>now on sale \u2014 use the code TNWXMEDIA2025 at the checkout to get 30% off.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Software Paris-based AI startup Veesion has secured \u20ac38mn to fuel expansion to the US \u2014 where it looks to help<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7282,"featured_media":10987,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-software"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7282"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/tnw.events\/hardfork-2018\/uploads\/visuals\/tnw-newsletter.png\")
<\/p>\n