Web3 in the cosmos(e)! Singapore's Cosmose AI connects offline and online shopping to help retailers increase sales through AI and smartphone data. Now, they've just gotten a strategic investment from the NEAR Foundation, the non-profit arm of the NEAR protocol.

• The investment has taken their valuation to over $500M!
• They last raised a $15M Series A in 2020.

Founded in 2014, they've served over 20M stores and reached 1B phones globally.

• Customers include LVMH, L'Oreal, Marriot Japan, Porsche and more.

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🙌🏼 When web3 meets AI

With NEAR, they've launched crypto payments and a crypto-based rewards program on their personalized and AI-driven shopping app, KaiKai!

• Pegged to the US dollar. KaiKai uses Kai-Ching, Near's native stablecoin.
• Personalized and gamified. It has multiple features for customers to discover brands, nearby stores and products and engage with them!

Wait but why? Web3 protocols like NEAR make payments faster and cheaper with lower transaction fees.

• Both customers and vendors have to pay transaction fees to payment processing companies even for small purchases, adding up to lots of lost $$$.

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🇸🇬 SG memories

KaiKai first launched crypto payments in Singapore last September, and they'll likely take it to other more crypto-friendly markets.

• They've processed over 1M transactions (1/3 of the total) in payments, refunds or rewards.

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🤓 A quick rundown

While we talked about KaiKai, Cosmose is best known for their AI and data-driven solutions for brands.

Understand. Analyze offline shopper behavior and foot traffic. Who are they, which malls and stores do they visit the most, and what are they most interested in?

Predict. Predict who will go shopping and when and where they'll shop — so you can target shoppers with the highest chances of buying.

Sell. Did they visit a competitor? Try something on? Check out the bag section? Connect with potential buyers online through behavior-based ads on the right online media platforms to influence them to visit your store and buy!

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🔑 The future

They'll also be integrating blockchain into their other solutions!

• They're keen to migrate user data onto the blockchain to build a system where users can see how Cosmose tracks them and decide how they want to be tracked.