Independent grocery stores are turning to artificial intelligence to stay competitive, as one startup secures new funding to help retailers modernize operations and compete with industry leaders Walmart and Amazon, Fortune reports.
How Vori Raised Capital
San Francisco-based grocery technology company Vori has raised $22 million in a Series B funding round led by Cherryrock Capital, the venture capital firm founded by former TaskRabbit CEO Stacy Brown-Philpot. Existing investors Greylock Partners and The Factory, the venture fund launched by Stanford University AI researcher Chris Ré, also participated in the round.
The investment comes as independent grocers face mounting pressure from large retailers with sophisticated supply chains and technology
platforms. Vori said it will use the new capital to expand its AI-powered operating system, which automates inventory management, ordering, pricing, supplier invoices, and payments for grocery stores that still rely on fragmented or manual processes.The opportunity is significant. The U.S. food retail industry generates roughly $1.5 trillion annually and includes more than 45,000 supermarkets. While Walmart and Amazon control about one-quarter of the grocery market, Vori is focused on serving independent and regional retailers that make up the remaining share.
Founder and CEO Brandon Hill said the company’s mission is personal. A third-generation grocer, Hill said the idea for Vori emerged after visiting his parents’ grocery business in 2020 and discovering the store still depended on paper invoices and wholesale catalogs to manage daily operations.
Why Getting In The Game Matters
Since launching its platform in January 2024, the company said it has processed more than $500 million in payments across 55 U.S. cities while serving more than 1 million consumers. According to Hill, payments account for roughly 60% to 70% of Vori’s revenue, allowing the company to keep software and hardware costs lower for retailers.
Beyond streamlining operations, Hill said the platform addresses another challenge facing independent grocers: labor shortages. The grocery industry continues to contend with approximately 39% store-level employee turnover, increasing demand for technology that reduces repetitive administrative work.
“It’s not about eliminating jobs,” Hill told the outlet. “It’s about, how do you fill gaps so you don’t have to spend 60 to 70 percent of your time moving data from left to right?”
Brown-Philpot said grocery retail has historically attracted less technology investment because of its operational complexity. Unlike restaurants, supermarkets often manage between 50,000 and 100,000 individual products, making inventory management and purchasing significantly more difficult to automate.
Hill said Vori expects to increase its growth sevenfold in 2026 and again in 2027 as it expands its footprint among independent grocers. Ultimately, he hopes the company’s technology will help preserve competition in an industry increasingly dominated by national chains.
“We need to protect the heterogeneity and the biodiversity of our food ecosystem,” Hill said.
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