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Retail tech startup NearSt secures 2 million pounds in funding

By Huw Hughes

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Retail

NearSt, a British retail tech startup that Google is backing to drive more people into the country’s ailing high streets, has raised 2 million pounds in seed funding.

The newest funding round, which was led by consumer tech specialists YYX Capital, brings the total raised by NearSt to 3.2 million pounds.

The company’s technology helps local stores automatically show live in-store inventory to shoppers searching nearby via Google, shining a spotlight on products currently hidden on the shelves of local stores.

The company said it will use the cash injection to accelerate uptake by retailers in the UK with a wave of new hires, and to launch its offering in the US.

According to the company, its technology is currently sending 5,000 extra customers per month into UK high street stores who would have otherwise shopped online. It aims to increase this number to over 100,000 a month by year-end.

“Most of the products we buy online are stocked in a store nearby,” co-founder of NearSt Nick Brackenbury said in a statement. “Until today though, they were invisible to your smartphone, so online was the only easy option. We’re solving that problem for retailers by making it effortless to get their products seen by the millions of local searches happening every day near their stores.”

“The magic of NearSt is how simple it is for a retailer to take advantage of this cutting edge technology. A few minutes and a few clicks is all it takes to get their inventory management system hooked up.”

Photo: NearSt founders Max Kreijn and Nick Brackenbury, courtesy of the company

NearSt