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An estimated20 % to 30 % of all inventoryin the U.S. is surplus , with much of it end up in landfills . A startup calledSotirawants to help address this trouble : It leverage AI to help oneself companies offload and monetize their surplus inventory . Sotira partners with brands to offload millions of pound of spare grocery , health and wellness , and cosmetic good all over the United States .
To fuel its delegacy , the company has shut down a $ 2 million pre - seed funding round . Sotira project to use the new funding to expatiate its surgical process nationally , specifically in the Midwest and southeast .
The startup , which exhibited at TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield 200 2024 , was founded by CEO Amrita Bhasin and CTO Gary Kwong . The pair met at UC Berkeley and bonded over their shared interest in the e - commerce and logistics space . Bhasin and Kwong were both running their own companionship that were focused on selling previously owned , newfangled , or used ware .
The duo then bulge out incline a liquidation commercial enterprise together because they wanted to read how the space operated before jumping into starting a companionship . They decide to shed a wide-eyed net income before zeroing in on their mission with Sotira .
“ We get wind that the market opportunity for monetizing overstock is huge , ” Bhasin told TechCrunch . “ It is a multibillion - dollar securities industry , and it is a very sure-enough - school manual space , like the masses we ’re mouth to are doing things on pen and paper . They ’ve never heard of ChatGPT , they do n’t know what AI is . And so that pretty much was the accelerator for us starting the fellowship . We were like , there is a grocery opportunity here . ”
Sotira helps to offload Cartesian product that are nearing their expiration date , items that are face repositing capacity issue , and products that have been over - ordered . Vetted suppliers can sign up for Sotira and link up their storage capacitance or inventorying . Sotira then touch the mathematical product to a buyer that will then pick up pallets from the provider ’s warehouse .
emptor are verify , brick - and - mortar store all over the country . They can share the UPC codes of the kind of inventory they purchase , and Sotira will use AI to match them with inventorying . Sotira automates compliance and facilitates minutes and logistics with buyer so supplier get paid upon tone arm . Sotira ’s goal is to exculpated surplusage within a few years of receiving stock list data .
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In the past , brands would have had to key out the stock they would not be able to sell to their master buyer , and then call up dissimilar manslayer to compare offers and manually negotiate price . Sotira has brought this cognitive operation online and allows suppliers to exonerate up inventorying much faster .
Sotira charge a monthly fee for approach ; it also shoot a percentage of revenue from each dealings on its platform .
While Sotira is good for suppliers and buyers , Bhasin says Sotira is also proud of its power to open up up affordable access to premium products that masses may otherwise be unable to get at . For instance , Sotira works with a lot of CPG drink make that end up offload their excess inventory to brush aside grocery stores .
“ In the saving right now , where you currently count at how rapidly foodstuff prices are increasing , these are the category consumers purchase the most , ” Bhasin tell . “ There is so much economic value in opening affordable accession to these items . A lot of the buyers we work with are in rural area . They ’re in areas that they may be more impoverished , where consumer actually rely on purchase from over - gunstock memory board , like they wo n’t buy from a Whole Foods , they ’re purchasing from a rebate grocery store store . ”
Bhasin also mention that sinceCalifornia has passed legislationto stop market stores from dumping food and drink , Sotira can now approach these party and inform them that there ’s a market place for their surplus stock-taking .
Sotira plans to enlarge beyond nutrient , beverage , health , and cosmetic in the future and move into the apparel place . The party is puzzle interest from steel that require supporter move their excess habiliment and shoes , Bhasin aver .
Sotira ’s pre - seed funding include involvement from Unusual Ventures , Night Capital , K5 Global , Ritual Capital , and others .
