Czech retail tech startup Buylo has raised €640,000 in funding from Purple Ventures, aiming to bring its RFID-powered checkout and inventory automation technology to a broader international market.
The new funding will be used to support international expansion, product development, and hiring across technical and sales teams. Buylo also plans to launch specialised modules for fashion retail and budget-friendly versions of its platform for smaller businesses.
The startup, headquartered in Brno, says it’s building a smarter, faster alternative to traditional checkout and inventory systems, promising a 10-second self-checkout experience and automated store operations.
Founded within the Industrial IT Group, Buylo is targeting medium-sized retailers that lack the resources to develop such solutions in-house. The company’s platform leverages RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags, sensors, AI and self-checkout technology to speed up transactions, minimize theft, automate stock tracking, and even deliver personalized shopping experiences in physical stores.
“We want to help retailers streamline operations and make shopping easier and faster for customers. Buylo is not just about cost savings; it’s about making retail data-driven, personalized, and transparent for both retailers and customers. I believe RFID is the future of retail and will soon be implemented by all major market players,” said Josef Voda, co-founder and CEO of Buylo.
“Moreover, Buylo is not only effective for sales floors but also a strong tool for managing back-of-house operations. Thanks to this, we are expanding our client portfolio both in the Czech Republic, where we are currently implementing our solution for clients like Angry Beards, and abroad, where we’re also growing rapidly.”
Buylo is entering a market that is growing at a rapid pace. The global retail automation sector was valued at $24 billion in 2023, and is forecasted to grow to nearly $72 billion by 2034, according to Precedence Research. The European market alone is projected to reach $6 billion by 2030, with factors such as labor shortages, cost-reduction pressures, and increased customer preference for self-service driving adoption.
With the Czech non-food retail market estimated at €28 billion and the European market at around €86 billion, Buylo is positioning itself as a cost-effective solution for mid-sized retailers aiming to keep pace with the digitisation of commerce.
Buylo’s advantage lies in offering enterprise-level technology to smaller players: businesses that often cannot afford to build in-house systems like those used by retail giants such as Zara or Decathlon.
The startup has already established a presence beyond the Czech Republic, working with clothing chain Numero Uno in Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria, and with YOYOSO in Slovakia. It has also expanded to the U.S. through a Czech innovation incubator.
“I never liked traditional self-checkouts where the customer essentially becomes the cashier. I thought, there’s a simpler way. It soon became clear it wouldn’t be that easy, and many people tried to dissuade me. But that only made me more determined,” said Voda. “Thanks to RFID, we’re not only eliminating unfriendly user experiences at self-checkouts but also dramatically increasing the efficiency of entire store operations.”
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