All existing investors from autone’s Seed round also reinvested in its Series A. This includes Speedinvest, YCombinator, Seedcamp, 2100VC, Motier, Financière Saint James, and notable business angels from LVMH, Sephora, and Moncler. The funding will be used to accelerate product development and continue autone's expansion and hiring across the US and Europe.

Operational platform for sustainable business growth

CEO Adil Bouhdadi and CTO Harry Glucksmann-Cheslaw met at Alexander McQueen in 2016 where they created a data-driven inventory decision platform which was integral to trippeling the brand revenue in five years to more than $800 million revenues. Founded in 2021, autone is already trusted by more than 50 global brands like Courreges,  Roberto Cavalli,  Stussy, and Zadig & Voltaire to help them accurately forecast demand, accelerate sales, while minimising waste and dramatically cutting time spent on manual tasks.

Solving an increasingly complex challenge

Inventory planning is vital in the retail sector to maintain margins and meet customer demand. However, in recent years the challenge of effectively managing orders, stocking, and inventory has become harder because of the proliferation of distribution channels, the increasing complexity of global supply chains, unpredictable lead times and shorter sales cycles. This is a particular pain point for mid-market retailers and premium brands who rely on legacy software and spreadsheets to predict stock requirements. Too often inventory management teams are required to make crucial decisions on inadequate data, resulting in overproduction, overstocking, and margin erosion.

autone’s platform collates 100 million data points per customer which it uses to demonstrate the impact on the bottom line of changing a single input. By integrating all internal and external data, the platform uses predictive analytics and machine learning to identify trends, forecast demand, and anticipate inventory needs. Brands using autone report up to 55% reduction on inventory, a 25% increase in accuracy in forecasting, a 30% sales increase and 45 hours a week of manual work, saved per customer. The platform uses AI and LLMs to explain the data insights behind stock recommendations, which then can be executed with a single click.

While better inventory management and more accurate forecasting has an immediate impact on retailers’ profitability, it also increases retailers’ long-term sustainability and reduces their impact on the environment. This helps brands comply with increasing sustainability regulation in different regions, including the EU’s ban on retailers destroying unsold goods. 

Building on momentum 

autone’s latest funding round takes the total raised by the company to more than $20 million and comes less than a year after the company’s Seed round. autone’s revenues have increased sixfold since the last funding round, and the founders have already taken their unique experience in high-fashion to serve mid-market retailers in beauty and cosmetics, accessories, sportswear, and homeware across the UK, France, Germany, the UAE, and the US. autone’s US expansion will be supported by General Catalyst’s track record and expertise in the sector as an early investor in commerce giants including Demandware, NewStore, BigCommerce, and Warby Parker.

autone is evolving to become a fully-fledged operational platform, replacing the many legacy systems that mid-sized retailers employ and including the ability to manage supply chain, remanufacturing, and reordering. With the funding, autone will accelerate its expansion across Europe and the US and continue growing its product and engineering team. 

autone CEO, Adil Bouhdadi, said:  “autone speaks the language of the people using it – not just the C-suite. An intuitive platform that turns passive data into powerful actions. A place where retail professionals can see the ROI of their work and feel confident in their decisions. We've taken a step back to look at what AI can really mean for our users. Retailers sit on piles of data that can simply not be leveraged with most tools, let alone spreadsheets. autone unlocks retailer profitability by reducing inventory levels while improving sales. To us, AI is not just about automation and prediction; It's about empowering the expert within each user. The future of retail extends beyond sales figures and inventory levels; it's deeply intertwined with our responsibility towards the environment. We aim to show the entire industry that selling better doesn't mean more inventory but smarter inventory.”

Customer quote, Roberto Cavalli: “The collaboration between Roberto Cavalli and autone marks a significant revolution in inventory management using AI. Previously, we struggled with replenishment and product performance insights. autone provides straightforward information and explanations to support decision-making. Key benefits include streamlined data flow, easy integration, and excellent customer support. We were operational within a month and saw top-line results quickly, recouping our investment within three months. autone continuously develops new features to adapt to retail changes, fostering long-term growth and client partnership.”

Zeynep Yavuz, General Catalyst, said: “Inventory management is one of the most critical and increasingly complex challenges in retail. With our investment in autone, we are partnering with what we think is an exceptional team that stands out with their deep retail expertise and a vision to help mid-market retailers make better business decisions using data. We are excited to support autone in their journey to become a leading force in AI-powered retail technology.”