US-headquartered visual technology developer ViSenze collected $20m on Tuesday in a series C round co-led by Sonae IM, the corporate venture capital arm of retail and financial services group Sonae.
31Ventures Global Innovation Fund, Rakuten Ventures, SPH Ventures and UOB Venture Management, respective subsidiaries of property developer Mitsui Fudosan, e-commerce firm Rakuten, publisher Singapore Press Holdings and financial services firm United Overseas Bank, also invested.
Venture capital firm Gobi Partners co-led the round, which was filled out by Raffles Ventures Partners, Tembusu ICT Fund, Impossible Ventures and Enspire Capital.
ViSenze develops visual search tools that enable shoppers to find products using an image or a screenshot. It also utilises machine learning and computer vision technology to help retailers automatically add tags to photos and recommend products based on a user’s search history.
The series C capital will go to product development, following the formation of partnerships with mobile device manufacturers Samsung, LG and Huawei.
The company has now raised $34.5m since it was founded in 2012, it said. Rakuten led its $3.5m series A round in 2014, investing alongside UOB Venture Management and Walden International.
ViSenze reeled in $10.5m two years later in a series B round co-led by Rakuten Ventures, WI Harper Group and Enspire Capital that included SPH Media Fund, UOB Venture Management, Raffles Ventures Partners, FengHe Fund Management and Philip Private Equity.
Rakuten Ventures partner Adit Swarup said: “Today, ViSenze not only powers recommendations for the largest brands in the world, but has helped pioneer a paradigm shift in ecommerce; helping consumers find products inside their favourite social media videos and images, as well as initiate a search directly from their camera app.”