US data capture company Zebra Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq: ZBRA) has announced that it is acquiring Israeli retail market analytics company Profitect. No financial details were disclosed but sources close to the deal have estimated that Zebra is paying about $100 million for the Israeli company. Zebra expects the deal to close this quarter.
Profitect has developed a product that can track and identify inventory losses in stores.
Established in 2007 by David Even Haim and Omer Matitiyahu, who are no longer active in the company, Profitect is today managed by chairman and CEO Guy Yehiav. The company has raised $22 million since it was founded and investors include Zebra Ventures, the investment arm of Zebra Technologies.
Profitect's employees are expected to become part of Zebra, who said that one of the motives for the acquisition was to gain the knowhow and capabilities of Proftect's employees.
Yehiav said, “We are excited to join Zebra and bring our award-winning prescriptive analytics solution to every worker at the edge. Together we will ensure the workforce of the future is more connected and optimally utilized. We value Zebra’s support and expertise over the past five years as a key venture capitalist. I’m proud of the contribution that Profitect’s solution will bring to Zebra and look forward to working closely to deliver prescriptive analytics as part of its innovative and broad solution portfolio.”
Profitect uses data from across the value chain for improving inventory and pricing accuracy, out of stocks, supply chain inefficiency, unsellable merchandise, and assortment discrepancies. The solution identifies a potential opportunity and can generate suggested actions, sending them directly to a worker’s mobile device, providing step-by-step instructions for resolution. By enabling users to understand and act on data, Profitect customers typically realize sales lift, as well as margin and labor productivity improvement enabling a better overall consumer experience.
Zebra will also use the investment to accelerate the development of its Savanna data platform through the acquisition of Profitect’s technology, talent, and skillsets. Combining the real-time data that Zebra solutions capture, with Profitect’s access to operational data, machine learning, and prescriptive analytics, Zebra will work with its’ partners to empower front-line workers even more - across all verticals - with the insights they need to make better, faster, smarter decisions.
Zebra CEO Anders Gustafsson said, “The acquisition of Profitect expands our relevancy deeper and wider in global retail operations while advancing our software capabilities to make our Enterprise Asset Intelligence vision even more accessible. We have had a strong relationship with Profitect for the past five years through Zebra Ventures, and we are excited to take our strategic investment to the next level by welcoming the Profitect team to the Zebra family.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 22, 2019
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