The Osnabrück startup’s camera-based self-checkout system, which can identify food and drinks without barcodes in less than 10 seconds, is operational at 43 sales points in the Orlando Magic’s NBA arena and on about one-third of the German university campuses. The Series A funding round was led by eCAPITAL and Simon Capital.
VisioLab, a German startup specializing in AI-driven self-checkout systems for the foodservice industry, has secured an $11 million Series A investment led by eCAPITAL and Simon Capital. Existing supporters High-Tech Gründerfonds, APX (a joint venture of Axel Springer and Porsche), and the family office zwei.7 also contributed.
Established in Osnabrück in 2019, the company plans to use the funds to expedite its global expansion, increase its team from 25 to about 40 employees, and establish a US office in Boston.
The product is designed to be low-hardware. At a stadium concession stand or university cafeteria, the customer places their items under a standard Apple iPad.
An AI-powered camera identifies the products within seconds, without barcodes, specialized scanners, or long queues, displays the price, and processes payment through a compact Bluetooth terminal.
The entire setup weighs under 25 pounds and can be installed in 15 minutes. Training the AI on a new menu of roughly 150 items takes around four minutes, according to the company. The model operates as an app on the iPad, meaning there’s no need for proprietary hardware upgrades when Apple updates its devices.
The primary growth driver has been the US market. VisioLab currently operates 43 systems within the Kia Center, the home arena of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, covering nearly all locations. NFL teams such as the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers utilize the system in their stadiums, and Inter Miami has chosen VisioLab as a launch partner for its new NU stadium.
The US now contributes about 50% of VisioLab’s revenue, with the company reporting over 1,000% annual growth in the region, a figure reflecting a small initial base but indicating rapid adoption in sports and entertainment sectors.
The company processes approximately one million transactions monthly across all deployments.
The other half of the business includes corporate cafeterias, university dining halls, and large German company staff restaurants. Around one in three German university campuses utilizes VisioLab’s technology via student service organizations.
The system is implemented in DAX-listed corporations’ staff dining and companies in banking, insurance, and automotive sectors. Global catering firms Compass Group and Aramark are partners in Europe and the US, providing VisioLab a significant distribution advantage, embedding its system in venues already operated by these companies.
The funding will facilitate market entry into Australia, New Zealand, Austria, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Iwo Gernemann, co-founder and president, will manage the US expansion from Boston.
New executives are joining from Klarna, SumUp, and Google, with around 15 open positions across go-to-market roles in Boston and engineering in Germany.
The foodservice checkout sector presents a real challenge: high-volume, time-sensitive traffic poorly catered for by traditional barcode scanning, which fails with numerous menu items, substitutions, and custom orders.
VisioLab’s vision-based approach bypasses the barcode issue but introduces challenges of its own: the AI must accurately differentiate between similar-looking items swiftly, handle partially obscured products, and maintain accuracy across varying lighting conditions, from well-lit corporate canteens to dimmer indoor arena concourses.