Crime has forced One NZ to close a major Auckland store. AI-software company Auror explains how it’s helping big business fight back. Video / Carson Bluck
Auror, an Auckland-based maker of crime reporting and prevention software, has raised $82 million in a Series C venture capital (VC) round – one of the largest for a Kiwi firm - at a valuation north of $500m.
If, say, a group of threepeople shoplift items from a supermarket then run out the door, the store can use Auror templates to quickly file a report with head office and police, including the likes of a snippet of CCTV footage, stills from facial or number plate recognition systems, and witness statements.
Auror uses templates to speed up reports of retail crime and build suspect profiles, which a store shares with its head office and police.
Auror co-founder and CEO Phil Thomson says it can save a retailer like Woolworths or Z Energy one to two hours in filing time, and police one to seven hours per incident.
A study by Sense Partners found in the 12 months to June 2023, police realised $92m and 170,000 hours of savings through workforce efficiency gains by investigating crime and requesting information more efficiently via Auror – a sum that, on paper at least, would fund another 450 police officers.
Where’s the prevention element if our supermarket offenders simply legged it?
“A lot of retail crime is very well-organised,” Thomson says.
Around 10% of offenders are responsible for 60% of losses. Auror’s information helps retailers and police establish who the offenders are, and their patterns of offending – important as many gangs aim to execute multiple heists in a day, whether that’s dramatic ram raids or quieter shoplifting.
Phil Thomson hadn't worked in retail or software before co-founding Auror. He worked for a big law firm, specialising in intellectual property and privacy issues.
The funds will bankroll a further push into the US, co-founder and chief executive Phil Thomson says.
More artificial intelligence tools will also be added, though Thomson. “We focus on responsible AI. It can make a workflow 10 times faster, but we want to keep a human in the loop.”
An Auror AI might be able to make connections between crimes that elude an investigator sifting through millions of lines of spreadsheet entries, he says.
The new investors
The raise was led by two new investors, Axon Enterprise (formerly Taser International) and W23, plus returning Sydney VC f
