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1…Sainsbury’s Rugby supermarket has become the first complete trial store for the UK grocery giant’s Smartshop Pay on Handset technology.
A pilot launched earlier this year, with shoppers able to pay directly on handheld SmartShop devices, skipping the need to go to the checkout.
While app users have been able to pay on their smartphones since 2022, the initiative marks the first time Sainsbury’s customers are able to complete payment in-store without using a traditional till.
In a LinkedIn post, Rosie Winning, Lead Customer Experience Manager at Sainsbury’s, said: “Something exciting is coming to Rugby….Smartshop Pay on Handset will launch on Monday 13th October.”
She added: “Great day this week to get some of the teams together to discuss how we impact our customers, expand the customer journey and deliver improved technologies for a streamlined front end.”
“We are extremely proud and excited to be the first complete trial store for this technology. The support teams have been instrumental and fantastic in helping us get ready to launch.”
$165 million…Dexory, a provider of real-time warehouse intelligence, visibility and autonomous solutions, has raised $165 million, building on the company’s Series B in 2024.
Eurazeo, through its Growth team, led the $100 million Series C round, with participation from LTS Growth and Endeavor Catalyst, alongside existing backers DTCP, Atomico, Lakestar, Elaia, Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and others. In addition, Bootstrap Europe expanded the existing growth debt facility.
Since its Series B, Dexory has expanded the reach of its AI enabled data intelligence platform, DexoryView, across Europe, North America, and APAC, and established its North American headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. Today, the platform is used by logistics specialists such as GXO, Maersk and DHL; manufacturers including Stellantis and GE Appliances; and by customers across pharmaceuticals, retail and e-commerce.
The new funding will accelerate Dexory’s product roadmap and expand access to its technology, with the aim of removing key bottlenecks in warehouse transformation.
“This new round allows us to bring forward transformational capabilities that our customers are asking for,” says Andrei Danescu, CEO and Co-Founder at Dexory. “By combining full stack engineering with zero customer complexity, we are building advanced agentic systems powered by the industry’s richest set of real-world logistics data. This will help warehouses and supply chains shift from systems of record to true systems of action.”
£2.5 million…UK cybersecurity startup Ploy has raised £2.5 million in a funding round led by Osney Capital, with participation from Superseed, Tiny.vc and Rule30.
This is alongside angels including Johnathan Scudder (co-founder of ForgeRock), Alastair Paterson and James Chappell (co-founders of Digital Shadows), Mark Ryan (VP of Product Management at ZScaler), Jonathan Tom (VP of GTM Enablement at Rapid7), Tony Pepper and Neil Larkins (co-founders of Egress) and Charles Delingpole ((co-founder of ComplyAdvantage, MarketFinance, and The Student Room).
“Identity sprawl has become a significant issue for organisations of all shapes and sizes, but particularly those with modern technology stacks; which often comprise hundreds, or even thousands, of SaaS applications” says Joshua Walter, Partner at Osney Capital, who will join Ploy’s board.
“This breadth causes fragmented and distributed access and ownership of identity, without unified visibility or control, and is typically enabled using role-base access controls. Ploy’s just-in-time approach to access, making all access temporary by default, and identifying risks centrally in real-time, is becoming the only approach that scales with modern threats, ways of working and technology stacks.”
Ploy’s customer base includes companies like Payfit, Not On The High Street, Welcome to the Jungle, ComplyAdvantage, Liberis, and Times Higher Education.
45,000…Royal Mail is looking to almost double its number of out of home parcel points – including shops, lockers and parcel postboxes – to 45,000 locations by 2030.
The company has been expanding its multi-channel network over the last two years, launching parcel lockers and more recently its Royal Mail Shop brand, as part of a move to meet growing demand for people wanting to drop off and collect parcels outside of the home. This is driven by the continued rise of online shopping and the rapid growth of marketplaces like Vinted.
With the planned expansion, customers in urban areas will be within a five-minute walk of a Royal Mail parcel point, with targets of five and 15 minutes maximum drivetime for suburban and rural areas respectively.
Parcel points are in addition to its 115,000 postboxes, which can be used for parcels small enough to fit through a letterbox, whilst 3,500 postboxes are being modernised to accept larger parcels up to the size of a shoebox.
£5 million…Patchworks has closed a £5 million funding round led by Gresham House Ventures, its main investor, with growth lending from Palatine Growth Credit.
Bringing the total funding to date to £16.3 million, this will be invested in expanding sales and marketing to reach more enterprise retailers and brands, driving growth in the North American market, building on early traction in the region, and investing in product development, including new AI features.
The company helps retailers integrate systems across e-commerce, ERP, PoS, PIM, CRM, CDP and fulfilment, with the aim of avoiding common issues like overselling, delayed orders, and inefficient manual data entry.
Jim Herbert, CEO at Patchworks, says: “This follow on investment is a huge vote of confidence in our platform and our strategy. Retailers and brands need flexible, future-proof infrastructure to stay competitive, and Patchworks gives them the power and speed they need.”
“We’re doubling down on the US market, scaling our partner ecosystem, and continuing to enhance the platform with AI and other innovations so our customers can connect, adapt and grow faster.”
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