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India-based online grocery seller BigBasket has acquired the enterprise business unit of a deep-tech company incubated by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) with a bid to revolutionize offline retail in the country.
BigBasket, a TATA enterprise, will be implementing Kochi-based startup Agrima Infotech’s unique customer vision technology platform, Psyight, at the self-checkout counters of the former’s retail stores.
The acquisition was announced by Hari Menon, CEO, BigBasket, on the sidelines of a two-day virtual ‘Huddle Global 2022’ of KSUM that got underway here on Saturday.
Developed by Anoop Balakrishnan, Arun Ravi, and Nikhil Dharman under Agrima Infotech, Psyight helps to identify all Indian fruits and vegetables uniquely from an image without using barcodes.
Speaking on the acquisition, John M Thomas CEO, KSUM said, “It not only reiterates the strength of our startup ecosystem but shows the great impression firms such as BigBasket have about our startups.”
“I hope the deal would encourage startups to move ahead strongly in their attempt to scale up their business,” he added.
Anoop Balakrishnan, Co-founder & CEO said, his startup joining hands with BigBasket will redefine the offline shopping experience in the country.
Commenting on the development, Arun Ravi, Co-founder & COO, Agrima said, “Detecting raw food items such fruits and vegetables uniquely from an image is a complex machine vision problem since the appearance of those items may vary concerning the location of its origin and seasons.”
“We have captured thousands of images of each SKU (stock-keeping unit) across the seasons and from different locations to achieve cent percent accuracy,” he added.
Further adding to the statement, Menon said, “BigBasket will use this expertise on AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) to enrich and enhance a whole lot of technological innovation in the company. We look forward to working with the Agrima team to build solid innovation in the grocery space.”
Recently, BigBasket opened its first technology-driven self-service ‘Fresho’ retail store in Bangalore.