Walmart Adds Israeli Artificial Intelligence Company to Shopping Cart

Walmart has acquired the Israeli artificial intelligence (AI) startup Aspectiva, which specializes in analyzing consumer opinions for its clients.

The retail mammoth adds Aspectiva to its Walmart’s Store N° 8, the incubation arm launched in 2017 to develop technologies for keeping the company ahead of the competition.

There was excitement in Israel over the deal.

“Our team is extremely excited to be joining Store N° 8 and be part of Walmart’s most recent investment in Israel,” said Aspectiva CEO Ezra Daya.

No details were released on the sum paid for the acquisition, but sources close to the deal told Globes that it was for several tens of millions of dollars.

Aspectiva was founded in 2013 by CEO Ezra Daya, CTO Eyal Hurwitz and was later joined by VP business development Yoad Arad. The company has raised $4 million, led by JVP in addition to Global Brain, Union Five, LivePerson and Re-Invent.

This is not the first of Walmart’s ventures into the Israeli start-up scene. The company invested recently in Team8, an Israeli think tank and tech incubator, launched a joint venture with Eko, an interactive media and technology company with offices in Tel Aviv and New York, and recently joined The Bridge, a technology accelerator connecting global companies with the technology startup community in Israel.