Vori Raises $22M Series B to Bring AI to Independent Supermarkets

Summary

Vori, a Y Combinator-backed startup, has closed a $22 million Series B funding round led by Cherryrock Capital (founded by former TaskRabbit CEO Stacy Brown-Philpot) to expand its AI-powered operating system for independent supermarkets. The funding also includes participation from Greylock Partners and The Factory, Stanford AI researcher Chris Ré's fund. Since launching in January 2024, Vori has processed over $500 million in payments across 55 cities and served more than 1 million consumers.

Founded by third-generation grocer Brandon Hill, Vori addresses the fragmented $1.5 trillion U.S. food retail market, which remains largely untouched by major players like Walmart and Amazon. The company's software automates critical grocery operations—including payments processing, inventory tracking, supplier invoice reading, shelf price adjustments, and purchase order creation—targeting the 75% of supermarket operators outside the big-box retail ecosystem. Vori's unique model generates 60-70% of revenue from payments processing, allowing it to keep software and hardware costs lower for independent stores already paying payment processors.

The company is positioned to serve the 45,575 U.S. supermarkets that still operate with antiquated systems, including paper invoices and fax machines. Hill founded Vori after witnessing his parents still using wholesale catalogs and paper-based processes in 2020, recognizing an opportunity to modernize grocery operations at scale. With expectations to grow sevenfold in 2026 and again in 2027, Vori is building the infrastructure layer to preserve the independence and diversity of the food retail ecosystem before it's entirely dominated by Amazon and Walmart.

• Targets 45,575 U.S. supermarkets operating outside Walmart/Amazon's 25% market control of $1.5T market