Egyptian Tech Investor A15 doubles investment In Irish retail AI-powered platform Intouch

The Middle East’s leading tech investor, A15 has capitalised on its investment in Ireland-based retail personalisation platform Intouch by doubling down on its initial investment into the AI-driven startup. The announcement comes after A15’s initial investment invested in Intouch as well as to providing unique services to support the startup’s growth. 

Intouch allows brick-and-mortar stores to collect in-store data about its customers using artificial intelligence (AI) to optimise customer interactions and experience. The platform helps retailers with physical stores personalise the shopping experience to better connect their customers to appropriate and suitable products.

“The investment from A15 will strengthen our deep ties with the region and our commitment to serve the region with state-of-the-art technology to push the retail experiences for shoppers to the next level,” says Sameh Abdalla, CEO of Intouch. “The Middle East is vitally important to us with several pilots for the largest players in the region going live within the last year.”

Intouch deploys an in-store personalisation platform that automatically understands and responds to hyper-local individual contexts.

Intouch's technology is used by top-notch retailers like Circle K, integrated with the world leader in self-scanning software providers like Re-vision, and co-sold by software giant Microsoft. The company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with offices in El Gouna, Egypt and Toronto, Canada.

In the Middle East specifically, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the grocery market registered above 11%, while globally the percentage stands at below 2%, based on McKinsey statistics. According to professional services company Accenture, 75% of consumers prefer to buy products from retailers that personalise their offering. 

Intouch’s collaboration with A15’s network of resources is dedicated to build solutions that leverage best practices from abroad that work for the Middle Eastern market in particular. According to A15, Egypt’s retail food sector is estimated to be $24.7 billion as of 2018; with the potential of market to grow by 15%-20% by 2023. 

“By that time, incomes will recover and purchasing power will increase after the government’s economic reform programme, which was implemented in 2016. In so, the Egyptian retail foods sector is a ripe space for Intouch’s technology as modern retail food outlets collectively operate 1,500 outlets, representing 20% of the total sector sales,” says Fadi Antaki, CEO of A15 .

He adds that A15’s regional offices and networks will pose as a launchpad for Intouch in MENA to boost its traction and client base in key markets as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Egypt.