Today we are extremely excited to announce our investment in Syte, a company that is completely changing the way eCommerce companies leverage visual AI. Syte powers visual search for some of the world’s largest eCommerce companies. By partnering with Syte, eCommerce businesses are able to provide image based search functionality that is style, fit, and color specific, thereby making search results incredibly accurate. It is this accuracy that keeps new customers coming and existing customers thrilled.

The Camera is King

The functionality Syte provides is increasingly table stakes as internet shopping trends continue to move towards mobile — in 2018 more than half of internet shopping traffic came from a mobile device (source). And while many eCommerce companies today have search, visual search is increasingly more important because of how GenZ and Millennials use mobile devices.

For GenZ and Millennials, mobile devices are more than just phones. They are mobile compute platforms, and the king of the platform for these generations is the camera. The camera isn’t just a feature on their phones, no it’s the key feature. It’s the tool used to express themselves digitally. Images are used to communicate a sense of identity and drive discovery. It is this fact that has allowed large companies like Pinterest and Instagram to emerge.

The enterprise has taken notice, and is currently undergoing a huge transformation to meet these digitally native consumers where they are. Companies like Syte allow enterprises to meet digitally native consumers on their terms. In the camera, using images and enabling these images to drive discovery and purchasing for modern eCommerce companies.

By unlocking great image search for eCommerce, Syte provides a way for its customers to engage with GenZ and Millennials through the pictures they’re already taking at incredible rates. Consumers just need to share the picture of what their favorite influencer is wearing to find the product, or a product similar, at their favorite retailers. These pictures can come from images shared by influencers, friends, or style icons.

Team

What makes this “go-to-market-fit” stage investment so exciting isn’t just the opportunity but it’s the team. the company is led by Ofer Fryman, Lihi Pinto Fryman, Idan Pinto and Dr. Helge Voss. Each of these individuals are thought leaders in their own right, and have helped eCommerce organizations understand the power that camera solutions and technologies can have for a retailer. Whether that’s search, smart mirrors, or deep AI tagging to assist in product attribution, this team continues to push what is possible for modern eCommerce organizations. It’s the time this team takes with customers that has allowed them to build a product that customers love.

Everyone here at Storm is incredibly thrilled to be joining Syte on what will undoubtably be an incredible journey to category leadership. Join us in celebrating the new financing round!

Press release: https://www.syte.ai/blog/syte-raises-22m-round-b/

The Deets:

With this new round of financing, Syte has now raised $30 million to date. — -This current round was led by our friends over at Viola Ventures, and included participation from Commerce Ventures, Axess Ventures, Magma, Naver Corpoeration, Line Corporation, Remagine Ventures, North Base Media, KDC Ventures and Lyra Ventures. With this round Syte will continue to expand its team in Israel while building out its New York office and expanding to the bay area later this year.

The Company

Syte is a Visual AI technology provider that empowers retailers to tap into the personal inspiration of individual shoppers and deliver the right products at the right time, using the most accurate artificial intelligence on the market. Founded in 2015, Syte developed the camera feature for leading brands such as Farfetch, Marks & Spencer, boohoo, Tommy Hilfger, and numerous others, leveraging partnerships with technology innovators, including Microsoft, and SAP.