Australia’s ongoing cost of living crisis is no secret. People now read the price tag thrice to determine if the item deserves a spot in their cart. They are cost comparing and cutting, making sure to find the best deals. Retail intelligence ecosystem Frugl (ASX: FGL) had set up a grocery app to make this entire process easier, but it was met with issues along the way.

Frugl Grocery is an Aussie grocery price comparison tool letting users compare prices of groceries at Aldi, Coles and Woolies. However, the idea didn’t really take off seeing as it required a lot of (probably too much) audience participation and input. So, in April last year, it teamed up with digital transformation Company Trienpont to digitise its offerings while reducing operating costs. 

After a successful eight month stint together, Trienpont has become a critical part of the Company’s business. So much so that Frugl decided to acquire Trienpont.

The Company believes that the acquisition will allow it to better harness Trienpont’s services and deliver growth to shareholders. Plus, it will allow Frugl to accelerate the software development of its platform and facilitate the development of its Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration projects. 

It will also take Frugl’s revenue from about $800k to over $1.5 million. 

Managing Director, Mr Kenny Woo, commented, “Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) belong at the very heart of Frugl’s value proposition. ML and AI will allow Frugl to offer its users more intelligent recommendations and enhance the quality and accuracy of the data that it offers its corporate clients. Trienpont’s core competencies and abilities will ensure that Frugl is able to future-proof its core business model and transform its products to an independently intelligent solution harnessing the power of Big Data and AI to continuously evolve and provide an unbeatable user value proposition.”

Trienpont is a South East Asian based technology business specialising in Digital Transformation, Software Development, Cloud Migrations & Integrations, and Technical Consulting and has existing clients in Australia, Asia, and Western Europe. 

Chief Executive Officer of Trienpont, Vincent Trienpont, added, “We are thrilled to be a catalyst of technological innovation between Australia, Asia, and Europe. Our team’s knowledge and experience will propel Frugl’s existing products into the next generation, including the Frugl App and Infocus Analytics, whilst allowing us to offer a wide range of bespoke technology solutions to the APAC region.”

The acquisition follows a capital raising of $436,999 dedicated to primarily support the commercialisation of the Frugl Market Analytics Retail Platform, expansion of the Frugl Market platform into Asia and general working capital. 

Frugl will pay Trienpont $80,000 in cash. Additionally, the Trienpont Vendors will receive fully paid ordinary shares in the Company. The number of shares issued will be determined based on their respective interests in Trienpont, and it will be equivalent to $7,920,000 dividend by the higher value between $0.018 (assuming the closing price is less than $0.018) and the volume-weighted average price of the Company’s shares traded in the 5 days leading up to the acquisition settlement.