Auror continues global expansion, raises $82m to expand public safety technology mission

AUROR CONTINUES GLOBAL EXPANSION, RETAIL CRIME REPORTING PLATFORM RAISES $82M TO EXPAND ITS GLOBAL PUBLIC SAFETY TECHNOLOGY MISSION

Technology company Auror, which provides the world's largest retailers and over 3000 law enforcement agencies globally with retail crime reporting and intelligence software, continues its strong growth with the successful close of its NZ$82m Series C capital raise. 

The round was led by Axon Enterprise Inc., W23 Global, and Reinventure, in a mix of primary capital and secondary transactions that was well supported by current shareholders. Auror plans to use the funds to continue its growth into North America and the UK, along with additional R&D investment. 

CEO and co-founder, Phil Thomson, says:

“Our mission remains the same - connecting communities to stop crime; and this latest raise allows us to continue our work around the world, using technology to tackle retail crime at scale, bringing retailers and law enforcement together, and making our communities safer.”

In August, independent economists estimated that Auror’s use by New Zealand Police, one of the larger global forces, created nearly NZD$100m in productivity savings, equivalent to adding over 450 additional officers to the force and creating over 170,000 hours of capability uplift.

“Our global growth is exciting, but we are also proud to be a Kiwi company contributing to the economy and tech community at home. We’re attracting highly skilled top talent motivated by our mission, and working hard to make New Zealand a safer place.” 

Auror has a global workforce of over 200 across five countries. It is based in Auckland, its largest office, where it has grown a specialist team of around 150 and where its R&D takes place. Other offices include Australia, the US, UK, and Canada as it seeks to address a global $180 billion retail crime challenge. 

Auror’s refreshed share register has strong international backing with global grocery retail venture capital fund W23 Global and US-based public safety and security technology leader, Axon, now taking stakes in the company.

Axon CEO Axon Founder and CEO, Rick Smith, says:

“Axon’s mission to protect life extends beyond public safety — to workplaces where frontline workers face real threats. By partnering with Auror, a pioneer in retail crime intelligence and incident management solutions, we can strengthen collaboration between retail and law enforcement to help build safer communities for all.”

Ingrid Maes, W23 Global’s CEO and Chief Investment Officer, says:

“We are excited to be making this investment in Auror. We look forward to supporting their continued international expansion and positive impact on the communities they serve.”

Axon Enterprise and W23 Global join existing investors such as Sydney-based Reinventure, New Zealand’s Movac, Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1, and NZ Growth Capital Partners. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise also supported Auror’s early global expansion via its international growth fund. 

“We first invested in Auror nearly 10 years ago when they were in just a handful of stores in New Zealand. We invested for two reasons - the Founders articulated perhaps the most perfect Data Network Effect we had ever seen and that if they were right, it was too important an impact on society not to support; they have turned out to be very right. This team, the product, and mission are rare and remarkable and they are achieving great things.” said Reinventure Managing Partner, Danny Gilligan.

An early investor in Auror, New Zealand Growth Capital Partners (NZGCP), sold down part of its shareholding in this latest round, making way for new capital from outside investors. NZGCP Chief Investment Officer James Pinner says Auror is a global tech success story.

“Auror has already delivered back to us well over 10x the total capital we invested since 2014 which will now be reinvested into the next generation of the most promising Kiwi start-ups. We’re really pleased to see that broader return to New Zealand in terms of the R&D, jobs, and the knowledge economy”.

“Ultimately, retail crime is a city killer - it's a gateway to organised crime, to unsafe streets, lower property values and as stores close for safety reasons, it restricts access to essential services. Its impact on frontline workers is immense. To be able to partner with retailers and law enforcement to address these issues has been humbling and rewarding for our team, and there is more work to do” said Thomson.

ENDS

Additional notes:

About Auror

Auror is a crime intelligence reporting software platform. The company, founded and primarily based in New Zealand, with offices in Denver, London, and Melbourne and it has over 200 team members globally. Auror works with over 45,000 retail stores globally including some of the world's largest brands, and with over 3,000 law enforcement agencies. 

About Auror’s investors

Axon is a technology leader in global public safety. Axon is building the public safety operating system of the future by integrating a suite of hardware devices and cloud software solutions that lead modern policing. Axon's suite includes TASER energy devices, body cameras, in-car cameras, cloud-hosted digital evidence management solutions, productivity software and real-time operations capabilities. Axon's growing global customer base includes first responders across international, federal, state and local law enforcement, fire, corrections and emergency medical services, as well as the justice sector, enterprises and consumers.

 Reinventure Australia is a Sydney based pioneering founder-first corporate venture capital fund. It has worked with Auror for over 10 years and sits on the Auror board. It focuses on creating options in future businesses through venture investment and a strategic relationship with its largest limited partner, Westpac Banking Corporation. It invests in and nurtures scalable early businesses that will be the future of the industry.

 W23 Global is a global grocery retail venture capital fund backed by five leading grocery retailers: Tesco (UK, ROI, Europe), Woolworths Group (Australia, New Zealand), Shoprite Group (Africa), Empire Company Limited Ltd/Sobeys Inc. (Canada) and Ahold Delhaize (US, Europe, Indonesia). W23 Global invests in start-ups and scale-ups deploying technology to transform grocery retail, and address the sector’s sustainability challenges.

Other investors include but are not limited to:

• Movac
• Folklore Ventures
• GD1
• K1W1
• NZGCP (Aspire) 

Auror Recognition:

• Winner Best Places to Work (NZ) - 2024
• Supreme Winner - New Zealand International Business Awards (NZTE) - 2023
• Supreme Winner and High Growth Export winner - American Chamber of Commerce - 2023
• Deloitte Fast 50 the past three years running 
• Most innovative software solution - 2022 HiTech Awards

 Customer partners

Examples of global customers include Walmart, Coles, Bunnings, Woolworths Group, Marks & Spencer, Boots, bp, Foodstuffs, Z Energy, the Warehouse Group. 

Auror has worked with New Zealand Police for over 10 years in addition to over 3,000 police agencies globally. In 2024 Auror released an independent report noting NZ Police productivity gains through the use of Auror over one year equated to:

• $92m in workforce efficiency gains
• Equivalent to 451 additional police officers
• 170,000 hours in capability uplift
• 6.8m kilometres saved or redirected

 Phil Thomson - CEO and co-founder

Phil is co-founder and CEO of Auror, leading its global business. Prior to Auror, he was a commercial lawyer specialising in intellectual property and privacy. He and his co-founders of Auror, Tom Batterbury and James Corbett, were named the 2022 NZ Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

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