Walmart-owned Flipkart has announced the acquisition of Scapic, an Augmented Reality company, to enhance its immersive shopping experience capabilities for customers.
Bengaluru-based Scapic is a cloud-based platform which enables creation and publishing of Augmented Reality (AR) and 3D content, currently serving clients across e-commerce and marketing. It was founded in 2017 by Sai Krishna V K and Ajay P V and is based out of Bangalore.
Through the acquisition of Scapic, the Flipkart Group will acquire a 100% stake in the company and welcomes onboard a talented team of experienced developers and designers. This team will work towards accelerating the company’s efforts to provide deeper camera experiences, virtual storefronts and new opportunities for brand advertising on its platform.
With the pandemic bringing about a change in consumer behaviour and an increase in online adoption, Flipkart has been focusing on enhancing consumer experiences through several investments, including strengthening technology capabilities. In addition to providing local language interfaces on its platform for consumers across the country, the company also recognises the Indian consumers’ preference for experiences that replicate the tangible shopping process.
Speaking on the investment, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group, said, “At the Flipkart Group we are focused on providing Indian consumers experiences that make shopping online a seamless and more enjoyable experience. This year has accelerated online adoption – be it education, communication or shopping, as people prioritise health and safety. As we make investments that focus on developing and nurturing the retail ecosystem, we are also committed to making our platform easier to navigate and richer for consumers in terms of content and experience. I welcome the Scapic team to Flipkart as we continue our efforts to provide deeper value to our customers.”
V K Sai Krishna & Ajay P V, Co-Founders, Scapic, said, “Today, we buy more online than we ever have, and it has only accelerated this year. Customers now require better visuals than ever before. Scapic is building visual technology that brings products to life using Augmented Reality and 3D. Advancements by the Scapic team in the field of AI, Computer Vision and AR have made this change possible. Scapic’s no-code platform helps create immersive experiences across categories such as fashion, furniture & electronics. We are deeply excited about the opportunity that is being presented to scale this up further and make millions of shoppers in India experience the potential of Augmented Reality.”