Ameba secures $7.1 million funding to revolutionise retail supply chains

In an increasingly competitive retail environment, fast-moving companies like Shein and Temu have taken significant market share through their sophisticated end-to-end supply chains. Traditional retailers are now seeking to modernise their outdated systems to keep pace with this new wave of competition.

A London-based startup, Ameba, proposes to address this challenge head-on with an innovative approach to handling the complex data within retailers’ supply chain systems. By integrating generative artificial intelligence into existing supply chain software, Ameba aims to streamline operations, offering insights and solutions that enhance efficiency and responsiveness to market demands.

Having recently secured $7.1 million in a seed funding round led by the venture capital firm Hedosophia, Ameba aims to utilise this influx of capital to further develop and deploy its technology. Hedosophia, known for its discreet investment strategies, opted not to comment further on its involvement in this funding round.

Ameba’s platform is designed to analyse vast amounts of unstructured data that typically go unrecorded by conventional supply systems. This data can include sales inconsistencies or inventory shortages. Cedrik Hoffmann, founder of Ameba, explained that their technology liberates siloed information, making it accessible and actionable for key stakeholders within an organisation.

Craig Massie, co-founder of Ameba and a former engineer at Palantir, elaborated on the AI’s capabilities, highlighting how it utilises a mixture of foundational models, including those developed by OpenAI. The system is flexible, adjusting the AI model in use depending on the specific task to ensure optimal performance, and employs multi-step agents to scrutinise supply networks, correspondences, and various digital communications.

Ameba’s solutions have already begun yielding results. One of their early adopters, Plank, a British firm specialising in interior hardware and lighting, has employed Ameba’s platform to identify and address 140 previously unnoticed production and delivery delays.

Ameba is the brainchild of Hoffmann, who was formerly the supply chain director and co-founder of the e-commerce company VALOREO, and Craig Massie. The startup’s efforts have also drawn support from Visionaries Club, which led a previous funding round, and Anamcara Capital.

Visionaries Club’s principal, Isabella Yamamoto, expressed confidence in Ameba’s potential. She remarked on the founders’ capacity to disrupt the supply chain sector with their AI-driven technologies, which aim to harmonise fragmented data and provide a competitive edge for brands struggling to adapt to the fast-paced retail landscape.

With this recent financial backing, Ameba is poised to further its mission of revolutionising traditional supply chain processes and equipping retailers with the tools necessary to thrive in a rapidly evolving market.

Source: Noah Wire Services