Retail crime in Australia currently costs the industry more than $9 billion each year but that could soon be significantly reduced with smart city company SenSen Networks (ASX: SNS) acquiring Scancam for $6.5 million with plans to develop their tech further. 

At present, Scancam is the leading provider of AI solutions for fuel retailers in Australia where it’s surveillance tech is designed to prevent motorists from stealing fuel. Major clients of Scancam include BP, Ampol (Caltex), Chevron, Euro Garages (formerly Woolworths Caltex) as well as the Western Australia Police Force. 

The system was developed to assist fuel retailers mitigate fuel theft which costs $59m per annum however SenSen’s intent is to further develop the tech for application in general retail where theft costs the industry $9 billion each year. Globally, the National Retail Federation estimates that figure balloons to USD $61.7 billion. 

Once developed, SenSen is confident that their new AI-powered anti-theft solutions will be a valuable addition to their existing suite of smart city products. 

“This is an important strategic acquisition for SenSen, a move that not only aligns to our ARR generating growth plans for FY22 and beyond, but also provides a strong foundation and impetus to move into the broader retail business vertical,” said SenSen Networks CEO Dr. Subhash Challa.

“Further, by integrating Scancam technology into SenSen’s proprietary platform SenDISA, we can provide further value to new and existing retail customers. 

“Our ingenuity provides new and existing customers with a zero-capex solution – removing what was a barrier to entry for some retailers – and solving a problem that was once thought technically impossible.”

The acquisition will be funded upfront with $1m in cash and $5.5m in SNS shares, subject to shareholder approval. Deferred consideration of $4.1m is also payable subject to performance of Scancam over the next 2 years. 

Scancam currently operates near break-even with unaudited revenues of $2.3m for FY21 where it is installed at 250 service stations. Upon completion of the acquisition, SenSen will seek to expand that figure to 6,500 service stations while developing the product for general retail in the background. 

Within its suite of smart city tech solutions, SenSen already has capabilities for people tracking which is actively used in high-density buildings such as casinos.