Personalized Online Shopping Experience Is Going Mobile
News Release
Government of Canada supports Slyce to enhance products, expand market reach and improve customer experience
December 18, 2017 – New Waterford, NS – Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Increasingly, consumers are looking for user-friendly experiences that enable them to quickly find and purchase products online, when and where it is most convenient for them. That is why the Government of Canada is investing in Slyce Canada Inc. as it innovates to respond to consumer demand by automating and expanding its software-as-a-service (SasS) mobile solution. This will help the company open new retail market segments and expand its customer base, allowing it to continue to grow and create good middle-class jobs in a rural area.
The Honourable Mark Eyking, Member of Parliament for Sydney-Victoria, was onsite today at Slyce’s New Waterford operations to announce a conditionally-repayable investment of $500,000 for the information and communications technology (ICT) company. The funding is being provided through ACOA’s Business Development Program and was announced on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA).
Slyce’s app allows a retail customer to snap a photo of an item and instantly find a match in a retailer’s online catalogue. With this investment, Slyce will enhance its image recognition technology to include the additional product categories of shoes, furniture, jewelry and patterns.
This investment builds on commitments made by the Government of Canada and the four Atlantic provinces to drive economic growth in the region through the Atlantic Growth Strategy. The strategy supports investments in projects that foster greater business innovation, the scaling up of small firms, and the commercialization of research.
Quotes
“In order to grow a strong and sustainable economy in Atlantic Canada, we must encourage small and medium-sized companies to remain innovative and compete on a global scale. Today’s investment will help further develop Canadian-made technology to meet the increasing demands of the online marketplace.”
- The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for ACOA
“The Slyce team remains focused on improving visual search accuracy and speeds with tools that are changing the way people discover, interact and shop for products. This investment will ensure that Slyce remains a leader in visual recognition for the online retail space and an employer of choice, contributing to Atlantic Canada’s high tech network.”
- The Honourable Mark Eyking, Member of Parliament for Sydney-Victoria
“Thanks to the ongoing support and funding from ACOA, Slyce has successfully grown its R&D team in Nova Scotia to more than 30 employees. We are building the most accurate image-recognition models, to automatically identify and extract everything from logos to plumbing parts from photographs. We’re excited to continue growing, and to be helping to raise Nova Scotia’s profile as a leader in AI.”
- Ted Mann, CEO, Slyce
Quick Facts
-
Slyce is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, with operations in New Waterford, NS. The company employs 47 full-time workers, 28 of whom are based in New Waterford and two others in Halifax.
-
Photographing merchandise is reported to be the primary in-store mobile activity of smartphone users, for the purpose of bookmarking items, consulting on product colors or features, or for researching products.
-
Slyce’s visual search feature, which is typically integrated into a retailer’s app or mobile site, enables customers to scan or snap a photo of a product, find an exact match (or the most visually similar product) in the retailer’s online catalog.
-
Slyce signed Neiman Marcus as a subscriber in 2014, and has since signed an additional 35 national retailers to power visual search within merchant apps and mobile sites.
Contacts
Alex Smith
Director of Communications and Outreach
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Phone: 902-426-9417 / 902-830-3839 (cell)
E-mail: alex.smith@canada.ca
Ted Mann
Chief Executive Officer
Slyce
Phone: 914-419-1432 (office)
E-Mail: ted@slyce.it