Toronto-based Slyce raised $12 million earlier this year to further its growth has announced it has acquired mobile commerce company BuyCode for $5 million in shares, cash and earn-out incentives. Tel Aviv-based BuyCode created an app called Pounce that offers users an easy way to print retailers ads and catalogs from your mobile device.
Slyce CEO Mark Elfenbein said of the acquisition, “We’re incredibly excited to be acquiring both the technology and the immense talent that Pounce comes with. We are consistently looking to add and perfect the functionality we can offer major retailers with the Slyce visual search platform. Through integrating the technologies, we can offer our retail partners an almost seamless discovery-to-purchase process for their customers – whereby consumers can go from seeing an item in the real world to purchasing that item from the retailer’s inventory in literally a few clicks.”
The Slyce technology enables a retailer’s customer to snap a smartphone picture of any item they find in the real world, or hover over any image online, and be instantly provided with all direct, or close-matching products from the retailer’s Inventory which can be purchased instantly – at the exact moment of consumer impulse.
Slyce also noted in the press release that they plan “to roll out their consumer facing mobile shopping app – capable of recognizing real-world items and facilitating one click purchases – in Q4, 2014.” This move takes on Amazon’s Firefly feature in the new Amazon Fire smartphone (not available in Canada), which allows customers to point the camera at any product and immediately receive details and the option to purchase.
Source: MarketWatch