Veesion, a French startup building AI tools to detect suspicious behaviour in physical stores, has announced a €38 million Series B funding round, accompanied by €15 million in non-dilutive funding, bringing the total raised to €53 million.
The round was backed by White Star Capital, Red River West, and Bpifrance, joining existing backers Odyssée Ventures, Verve Ventures, and Founders Future. The fresh capital will support the company’s push for international expansion and the extension of its technology into new environments and use cases.
“We founded Veesion with one ambition: to become a global leader in intelligent gesture analysis. We’ve developed a one-of-a-kind AI that today identifies risky movements, and tomorrow will provide retailers with broad support to better manage their stores and customers. This fundraising will help us structure further, rapidly accelerate our international expansion, and recruit top talent.
“We’re proud to bring new investors on board while gaining renewed support from our historical partners. Veesion and its team are giving themselves the means to achieve their ambition: to become a French global champion in computer vision,” shared Thibault David, CEO and Co-founder of Veesion.
Founded in 2018, Veesion tackles one of the retail sector’s persistent problems: theft. Traditional surveillance systems offer little in the way of prevention, leaving most CCTV footage unwatched due to lack of staff or resources. While e-commerce benefits from fraud protection and real-time analytics, brick-and-mortar stores have long lagged behind.
Veesion’s Founders identified this disparity and spent three years developing a solution specifically for the physical world.
“As a pioneer in its field, with a fully integrated and scalable AI model, Veesion stands as a true disruptive player in the retail sector. As it accelerates development, its AI-powered solution is poised to make commercial spaces safer worldwide and relieve professionals in the industry. We are very pleased to support the company in this new phase of growth and international expansion,” said Matthieu Lattes, General Partner at White Star Capital.
At the core of Veesion’s platform is a gesture recognition AI that processes in-store video streams to flag potentially suspicious behaviour – without the use of biometrics or storing any personal data.
The system, which does not require additional hardware, integrates into existing store setups and is controlled through a mobile app that delivers real-time alerts to staff. The company argues that its data privacy-friendly approach and simplicity have helped the technology spread rapidly: over 5,000 stores across 25 countries now use Veesion, including independent shops and large supermarket chains.
Clients have reported immediate reductions in shrinkage and improved margins – in some cases by up to 50%.
“Veesion has developed a powerful gesture recognition tool aimed at understanding the physical world, with an initial focus on helping retailers tackle shrinkage – a major margin issue in the sector. With rapid growth over the past three years, Veesion will now be able to accelerate further in strategic markets, especially in the U.S. through the opening of its subsidiary,” said Luc-Emmanuel Barreau, Partner at Red River West.
The funding will help the company expand in key markets, most notably the United States, where it already generates 10% of its revenue despite lacking a local presence. In June 2025, Co-founder Benoit Koenig will relocate to the US to set up the company’s first American office, aiming to cement Veesion’s role in a market where demand for retail security technology reportedly remains high.
The company also plans to grow its team, adding more than 80 new hires to its current headcount of 150, and extend its AI’s applications beyond theft detection. Use cases under development include restocking assistance, customer journey optimisation, and monitoring of incidents inside stores.
Beyond retail, Veesion sees potential in sectors such as healthcare, childcare, warehousing, and construction, where gesture-based insight could improve safety and efficiency.
“Thanks to its unique proprietary dataset and unmatched accuracy, Veesion is the only solution capable of detecting theft gestures in real time. It is redefining retail security standards – and has all it takes to become the leader in the U.S. market. We are delighted to support Veesion in its international expansion through our Digital Venture fund,” added Tuan Tran, Senior Investment Director at Bpifrance.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/05/paris-based-veesion-raises-e53-million-to-stop-shoplifting-with-ai-that-understands-gestures/
