Qsic secures funding to enhance its AI-driven retail audio platform, expand to new locations, and power personalized in-store experiences for global brands.
UK investment firm Hedosophia led the raise for 13-year-old Melbourne-founded, Dallas-based Qsic.
The platform, cofounded in 2012, began as a music streaming service in pubs and clubs. It is now responsible for the in-store audio in the likes of 7-Eleven and McDonald’s, claiming to reach around 100 million shoppers at the point of purchase monthly.
If you’ve visited a Coles Express, you’ve heard about the product—the company signed a five-year partnership with the fuel retailer back in mid-2023. Qsic’s retail audio has an AI capability to deliver targeted media at petrol stations, which process more than 3.6 million transactions weekly. You’ll also hear it in grocery, liquor, hospitality, fashion, and specialty retail stores.
Last year, it signed a deal to install “Gulp Radio” in 12,000 7-Eleven, Speedway, and Stripes stores across the US by the end of 2025, reaching up to 13 million shoppers daily.
The martech raised $4 million in a Series A led by Carthona Capital in May 2021.
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The fresh funding will go toward product development, ramping up the sales team, and rolling out an AI-powered in-store audio platform into new retail locations. Over the next 12 months, 70,000 speakers are planned for stores in North America.
Qsic’s generative AI model, Lucy, creates custom audio ad content, including on-demand voiceovers. It localizes ad content in real time based on details such as local pricing, inventory, and weather conditions and controls the volume based on ambient noise levels.
Matt Elsley, the martech platform’s cofounder CEO, said demand for the product is strong.
“We’re positioned to accelerate product development to enhance our tech capabilities and put new resources in place to grow our network to drive even greater, measurable outcomes for our retail partners and brands globally,” he said.
