In a nutshell:
- Turkish-founded Cognitiwe, a company specializing in AI solutions for visual analysis, successfully closed a funding round of over $1M.
- The investment is secured from a diverse group of investors and angel investors, including Bulgarian-based Eleven Ventures, TechOne VC, Flat6Labs, Domino VC, and Caucasus VC.
- With the new investment, Cognitiwe’s top priority is expanding into the EU first due to its significant market size, high technology consumption, and cloud penetration. They will also invest in strengthening their team and infrastructure to support this expansion.
The Solution:
Their flagship product, Wefresh, targets the retail industry by offering a solution to enhance their operations. Utilizing advanced AI and image processing technology, Wefresh provides real-time insights and data-driven predictions, enabling retailers to optimize their business operations. This technology is implemented in areas such as quality control, smart stock tracking, and ensuring product freshness. This enables retailers to minimize food waste and preserve valuable resources and materials.
What’s next on their agenda:
- Cognitiwe remains dedicated to extending its reach to new markets, and this funding round marks another step in its journey.
- The company plans to focus on growth by expanding its team and reaching customers globally, with the aim to maintain a strong position in the AI retail industry. That includes creating local teams in important markets like Southern Europe and the Gulf Region.
- Congnitiwe’s long-term ambition is to conquer the US market.
- The new investment will also enable the expansion into new retailer segments, such as cosmetics or electronics.
In their own words: “This funding will enable us to establish Cognitiwe as a market leader in AI-supported image processing technologies in the global market, and we are excited about the opportunities it opens up for us”, shared Cognitiwe’s co-founder and CEO Attila Alga. “As we wrap up our latest investment round, our focus now shifts towards fostering growth by strengthening our team and intensifying our engagement in outreach activities aimed at reaching and connecting with customers on a deeper level”, he added.
The Investor’s Perspective: “We supported Cognitiwe because we see how their solution solves a pain not only to the retailers but to society as a whole, namely the wastage of food and other products. There are a number of great opportunities in front of the company, and Attila and Mete are coming with an entrepreneurial background that helps them drive innovation in the industry”, said Ivaylo Simov, Partner at Eleven Ventures.
Get their background story:
- The startup was established in 2021 by Attila Algan, former marketing executive at Nokia, and Mete Bayrak, with a history of working in the information technology and services industry.
- Cognitiwe, with headquarters in Tallinn, Estonia, is serving clients in 15 countries throughout Europe.
- Cognitiwe partners with Microsoft, leveraging their platform based on Vision AI, IoT and Cloud & Edge Computing.
- Their last funding round was two years ago, closing a $605K investment with TechOne VC, StartersHub, Startup Wise Guys, and EGIAD Angels.
