Estonian Cognitiwe raises €1M

Cognitiwe, a Tallinn-based AI solution to prevent food waste in supermarkets and catering services, has raised €1M from Dutch venture firm DOMiNO Ventures, Turkey's TechOne VC, Bulgaria's Eleven Ventures, and Egypt's Flat6Labs.

This €1M round was a part of the venture deal, announced in December 2023. At the time, there was only information about one investor from Cognitiwe - Azerbaijan's Caucasus VC, whose average ticket is between €50K to €100K.

Founded in Tallinn in 2021 by Mete Bayrak and Attila Algan, Cognitiwe has developed an AI-powered platform that helps prevent food waste in supermarkets and catering services. The cloud-based platform and IP camera use allow retailers to analyze the freshness of their shelves, stock levels, and sales performance. This helps to reduce food waste and conserve resources and materials. In addition, the startup’s customers can increase operational efficiency and profitability through real-time insights and data-driven forecasting.

Cognitiwe extracts and analyzes data from images and video from existing IP cameras, installed in the supermarkets, and analyzes it. Retailers or food manufacturers can manage cameras, locations, and products through the platform's dashboard. The platform monitors checkout aisles and self-service checkouts to detect fraud and shrinkage. 

Among the company’s customers are French retailer Carrefour, Swiss retailer company Migros, and others. Cognitiwe has offices in Istanbul and Milan. The company will use the investment for marketing and team expansion.

In 2022, the startup raised $605K from TechOne VC, Estonian accelerator Startup Wise Guys, Turkish investment firm StartersHub, and Turkish investment network EGIAD Angels.