Do you like numbers? Do you like retail systems news? Then this is the article for you. Including Salsify, Starship Technologies, Go Grocer, Amazon, and Choco.

2…A competition to celebrate the exceptional people working in store teams around the UK has launched for a second year.

If a store team has gone above and beyond for a customer, done something incredible in the community or found a clever, creative way to make their store stand out, then Critizr, the organisers of Proud of My Store, want to hear about it.

An online hub is now open for entries from supermarket branches, boutiques, banks, pharmacies, salons, restaurants and more, inviting them to tell their local store’s story.

1 and 2…For the first time, Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology is live in a Major League Baseball stadium.

Two food and beverage stores, powered by the checkout-free technology, have opened in Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, ahead of their first home game of the season.

Both offer a selection of snacks, soda, candy, and alcoholic beverages. One also offers pre-packaged salads, wine bottles, and souvenirs. 

$200 million and $2 billion…Commerce experience management commerce platform, Salsify, has closed a $200 million Series F round of financing led by TPG.

The round, which includes investments from Permira’s Growth Opportunities Fund, Neuberger Berman Funds, and Cap Table Coalition, brings Salsify's valuation to $2 billion. 

£3 million…Dragonfly AI,  a predictive visual analytics platform with clients including Diageo, GSK, and Vodafone, has closed a £3 million Series A funding round led by Guinness Ventures and existing investors Downing Ventures.

6…Starship Technologies has launched its robot delivery service for groceries in Finland. 

The firm has partnered with grocery store chain Alepa, owned by HOK-Elanto Group. 

At first, deliveries will start from six Alepa stores in the city of Espoo during April. Starship aims to sign more partnerships with Finnish retailers going forward. It is also expanding its R&D centre in Helsinki.

$111 million and $1.2 billion...Choco, which is building a more sustainable food system for restaurants and suppliers, has brought in $111 million in a Series B2 round, boosting its valuation to $1.2 billion.

The new investment, an internal round led by G Squared alongside Insight Partners, came just six months after Berlin-based Choco bagged $100 million in a Series B round led by Left Lane Capital.

€3 million…London-based wine marketplace, Crurated, has raised €3 million. 

Investors include wine expert Chris Van Aeken, Dip WSET, entrepreneurs, and other private wine collectors.

The funds are being used to further build out blockchain and NFT technology within the company’s platform. 

Crurated launched in 2021 with an emphasis on France and Italy.

Alfonso de Gaetano, Founder of Crurated, will now focus on expanding in the Italian market throughout Tuscany and Piemonte and in France’s Côte du Rhône region.

28% and 11%…Despite a 28% drop in quarterly online sales YoY, the e-commerce sector is 11% up on pre-pandemic times, according to research from referral engineering platform Mention Me.

2…The American Airlines Center in Dallas, home of the NBA’s Mavericks and NHL’s Stars, has opened two new autonomous food and beverage experiences. 

In collaboration with hospitality partner Levy and its innovation studio, DBK Studio, it has launched a Market To-Go shop on the arena’s Terrace Level, with a second location on the Main Concourse of the arena to open later this month.

Powered by autonomous retail tech from Standard AI and mobile payment tech from SpotOn, these are pitched as being “among the first food and beverage destinations at a North American sports venue that fully integrate AI and mobile payments for an autonomous experience”.

5…Chicago-based Go Grocer has launched an express pick up option, with orders available in as little as five minutes

$200 million…RITMO, a FinTech platform that provides working capital finance and an automated buy now, pay later system for e-commerce businesses, has closed a $200 million debt funding round led by i80 Group and Avellinia Capital.