EBRD invests in Estonian e-commerce search innovator Miros

• EBRD leads pre-series A investment round in Miros alongside other investors
• First venture capital investment in Estonia advances use of artificial intelligence (AI) in e-commerce
• Investment is through the Bank's venture capital arm, which supports early and growth-stage technology companies

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), through its venture capital arm EBRD Venture Capital, is supporting the growth of Miros as part of a €6 million pre-series A extension round.

The round was led by EBRD Venture Capital and Tera Ventures alongside existing investors Day One Capital and Metis Ventures, and angel investors, including the former President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

The EBRD's investment will support Miros's product development and expand market reach in the US.

Based in Estonia, Miros uses proprietary AI technology to provide a visual search platform for e-commerce; shoppers can search for products online using images instead of text, in addition to advanced text-based searches. Miros leverages users' browsing behaviour and interactions with product images to identify key features and match them to the items in the retailer's product catalogue, therefore nudging the most relevant products to the user.

Traditional text-based search methods that rely on product tags and subpar scrolling experiences cause online retailers to lose more than 50 per cent of their customers. Miros's visual search tool addresses this problem, especially for products that are harder to describe, such as fashion or furniture. In a side-by-side product search on selected retailers' websites, Miros outperforms the Google and Algolia search engines.

"We are excited to partner with Miros as it scales its AI-based visual search solution for e-commerce," said Aziza Zakhidova, Associate Director in the EBRD's Venture Capital team. "The product is impressive - making the shopping journey intuitive for the consumer while demonstrating a clear return on investment for retailers globally. This is a great example of innovation originating from the Estonian tech ecosystem."

Heikki Haldre, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Miros, commented: The world doesn't lack products. Finding them is the problem. We've all wasted hours online, endlessly scrolling and searching for the perfect item. At Miros, we're building the new online shopping experience where you can find a product in less than 60 seconds. Even when the products are so visually complex that the words fail us, the shop understands us nevertheless. The experience feels magical. Why would I shop anywhere else and spend hours searching for products?"

EBRD Venture Capital is the Bank's €250 million fund investing in early and growth-stage technology companies with technology teams from central and eastern Europe and beyond.