Instacart Acquires Israeli AI Startup Arpalus to Boost Smart Retail Technology

The financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but according to Calcalist, the acquisition is worth tens of millions of dollars. It is also Instacart’s first acquisition of an Israeli company.

Arpalus has developed technology to solve a major problem in online grocery shopping. It helps retailers keep their online inventory accurate by showing what products are actually available on store shelves.

This reduces problems such as wrong stock information, product substitutions, and cancelled orders, helping improve the shopping experience and increase customer trust.

The acquisition supports Instacart’s plan to grow beyond grocery delivery and become a retail technology company focused on artificial intelligence (AI), data, and automation.

The company has already invested in technologies such as Caper smart carts and Store View, which use computer vision to help retailers track product availability and manage store shelves more efficiently.

Arpalus was founded in 2019 by Ofir Zilberberg, the company's CEO, and Dr. Rotem Bennet. Ofir previously worked with the Israeli Air Force and Elbit Systems, while Dr. Bennet was a computer vision expert at Microsoft Research before leaving the company.

The startup developed AI models that analyze supermarket shelves in real time, helping retailers track product availability more accurately.

Arpalus was launched through the Nielsen Innovate incubator, is headquartered in Netanya, and has a team of around 20 employees.

Instacart was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in San Francisco. The company went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2023 and is currently valued at around $11 billion.

Instacart works with about 1,800 retail chains and connects hundreds of thousands of shoppers and millions of customers across the United States and Canada.

Read Also- Indian Startup KuhlTherm Lands $1.1 Mn to Power AI Data Centres with Liquid Cooling