)
Viewa, a Melbourne-headquartered startup that harnesses augmented reality (AR) and 3D visualisation to add depth to e-commerce offerings, has secured a pre-seed funding round with Skalata Ventures as it aims to lift the number of clients deploying its software nationwide.
The $300,000 round takes the total amount paid for Viewa shares to close to $1 million, according to records lodged with the corporate regulator, with backers including Nitro Software founder Rich Wenzel.
The news comes just over a decade after Viewa co-founder and CEO Edward Sedgley exited his successful identity verification firm Global Data Company (GDC), via a sale to Canada's Trulioo in mid-2014.
Launched in 2021, Viewa's mission is to use AR, 3D and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to "bring products off the page, aiming to recapture some of the in-store shopping magic".
The startup's proposition is emboldened by reports from the Harvard Business Review that interactions with AR can lift conversion rates by up to 94 per cent.
Viewa is web-based rather than app-based, so it’s up and running within a webpage without asking shoppers to sign up or download an app.
With four products including ViewaConfigure (3D), ViewaAugment (AR), and ViewaSurface and ViewaScenes for big-ticket purchases like furniture, blinds, and pools, Viewa is serving the growing tendency for extensive pre-purchase research.
The technology can "literally read the room" and can scan for colour palette, windows, and other furniture to define a particular style within a living space or location.
"Our mantra is ‘seeing is believing’. Confident purchasing means infinitely better experiences for the customer - conversions increased by as much as 94 per cent for the retailer, and massively reduced headaches for everyone when buyers buy the right product, the first time," Sedgley explains.
Viewa believes a “right first time” mentality may help address a "disastrous" global returns culture in which impulse buying then returning has been made so easy, wreaking havoc for retailers and the environment.
The startup currently has a 50-strong list of customers including Australian Venue Co, Clark Rubber, Shipping Container Pools, DIYblinds.com.au and NED Whisky.
Viewa expects furniture retailer M+Co Living will soon deploy Viewa’s AR software into over 100 Australian retailers.
"The team’s clear strength is vision (no pun intended), and rapidly understanding new technology," says Skalata CEO Rohan Workman.
"Viewa has a strong culture and defensible technical skill, and we’re excited to back them on their path to international expansion."
)
