Auror GD1 portfolio company profile
Auror believes that in the fight for a safer society, the best way to address crime is to prevent it.
Their retail crime intelligence platform helps champion a safer society through cloud-based software that enables police and retail businesses to collaborate to fight crime. It transforms the intel reported by frontline teams using user-friendly, web-based software (including an app) into a full picture of retail crime that provides store staff with real-time alerts, actionable intelligence and business reporting. This helps retailers and the police with both crime detection and prevention, including helping to identify repeat offenders; and the ability to place a store on ‘high alert’ due to recent theft patterns.
The startup is already helping prevent crime, reduce loss and make working in stores safer across 30,000 retails stores globally, and growing. It is trusted by stores across New Zealand, Australia, US and the UK and, as an incredible testimony to the value it adds, has never had a single customer churn.
“We’re very proud of the team that we’ve built and our culture of looking after each other and our customers. We face the tough issues together. GD1 has the same approach to doing business and we’re super excited to have them work alongside us to scale our market share. We really can do more together,” says co-founder Phil Thomson.
We share a little more about their journey...
Key statistics
Company stage: Series B
Founded in: First raise occurred in 2014
Staff count: 95 and growing
Locations: NZ, Australia, US and the UK
Other ‘vitals’:
Auror has doubled its staff count over the past year
They’ve never had a single customer churn
The software protects 30 000 retail stores around the world
What problem does Auror solve?
Theft has a 1-2% influence on a store’s bottom line - a massive write-off and a significant cost to any retailer. Not only is Auror working to prevent that loss, but it also works to keep retail staff safe. This combined enhances the overall customer experience by ensuring products are readily available and not out of stock due to theft.
Traditional crime prevention software is clunky and difficult to use, especially as retail staff come under increasing time and workload pressure. Auror’s UI is simple to use, available on mobile, and lightning fast functionality means reporting can be delivered in almost real-time.
In the past, it was difficult to ‘connect the dots’ on police data, individual store data and country-wide store data. Auror solves this problem by enabling the anonymised sharing of data that enhances the detection of theft patterns and prediction.
Why is Auror such a well-loved product?
With an NPS of +70 globally, frontline retail staff love using Auror because they experience tangible outcomes. The user-experience includes a feedback loop in which every crime reported receives commentary from head office or a store manager, reinforcing that what they report matters. It creates a partnership between store staff and store management - turning store staff into valued advisors around crime prevention.
Many stores tell the startup that their software is “The only way we can understand what’s going on!” and the software provides essential intelligence to Police. The NZ Police recently launched a national retail crime investigation unit because of the data Auror provided them on in-store violence and aggression which is used to get away with shoplifting. In a national first, Auror was able to demonstrate that a large portion of shoplifting incidents are linked to gangs, guns and drugs, showing how small-scale retail theft isn’t always what it seems.
Why did Auror seek funding?
Auror believes that a great team is key to growth. Their recent funding round will be used to hire even more great people, build out a stronger customer team and launch into new markets.
In addition, money will be invested into further product development, including using machine learning and AI computer vision to enhance the platform’s capability.
Why is Auror a great investment for GD1?
GD1 is excited about Auror’s close alignment with its ECG focus which encourages partnering with companies having a real and lasting impact on making the world a better place. Auror is a company on a mission to stamp out retail crime and believes their technology is the catalyst to achieve this. Through its collaborative platform, it's transforming how retail and law enforcement report, solve and prevent crime. Auror is creating safer communities and freeing up much needed law enforcement resources and capabilities around the world.
In addition, Auror is already highly successful on the global stage and has become a technology that quickly becomes invaluable to business operations. Its potential for growth is quite literally limited only by the number of stores globally.
Contact information
Written bY
GD1 Team
