Draft:Mashgin

Mashgin is an artificial intelligence (AI) company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, that develops computer vision hardware and software for automated retail checkout. The company is known for its AI-powered checkout system that uses cameras to recognize items based on physical characteristics such as size, shape, and color, rather than barcodes. According to Mashgin, this approach aims to make checkout faster and reduce wait times in retail and concession settings.

Mashgin’s kiosks are in use at over 4,000 locations globally, including 130 professional and NCAA sports stadiums, corporate cafeterias, airports, and convenience stores like Circle K and AmPm.

History

Mashgin was founded in 2014 by Mukul Dhankhar (Chief Technology Officer) and Abhinai Srivastava (Chief Executive Officer). The company joined the Winter 2015 batch of Y Combinator, where it won a $1m investment in spite of missing the deadline by two months. It later raised seed funding led by Susa Ventures and TenOneTen Ventures. In 2017, Mashgin completed a Series A funding round led by Matrix Partners.

The company later signed agreements with major food service providers such as Aramark, Compass Group, and Sodexo, expanding its presence in corporate cafeterias and stadium concessions. In 2021, Mashgin extended its focus to retail settings, including convenience stores and airports, and won Top New Cool Product at the 2021 National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Show.

In 2022, the company raised $62.5 million in a Series B funding round led by NEA, bringing its reported valuation to approximately $1.5 billion. Mashgin also entered an agreement with Circle K, one of the largest global convenience store chains, to install its systems in thousands of locations by the end of 2025.

Mashgin has since expanded its services to international markets, including Scandinavia, Canada, and Australia, while continuing to increase its presence in U.S.-based stadiums, cafes, and convenience stores.

Technology

Mashgin’s primary technology involves a computer vision system that combines multiple cameras and deep learning algorithms to recognize items without relying on barcodes or RFID tags. This system incorporates 3D reconstruction techniques and machine learning models to identify items based on visual characteristics.

The AI Checkout System developed by Mashgin includes a kiosk with an array of cameras above a scanning surface and a touchscreen interface. Unlike barcode scanners, the system can identify multiple items simultaneously based on visual cues. This feature allows users to place several items on the scanning surface at once, reducing the need for one-by-one barcode scanning.

Mashgin’s AI models are trained on a large dataset of product images and can adapt to new items, with the capability to learn the appearance of a new product in a short time. The system maintains a database of item images that can be shared across kiosks, supporting faster deployment of the technology at new locations.

Public Reception

Mashgin received industry recognition at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Show in 2021.

In 2022, Mashgin was named among the "Top 10 Most Innovative Retail Companies" by Fast Company and included in the "Forbes AI 50" list.

A 2022 Forrester report highlighted Circle K’s use of Mashgin’s technology, noting that customers prefer this automated system to traditional checkout options.

Deloitte named Mashgin to their Fast 500 in 2023 Inc recognized Mashgin in the top 1,000 of the Inc 5,000 Fastest Growing Companies in 2023 and 2024.