Mashgin's checkout kiosks sold out twice, led by 62 units at Northwestern's $870 million stadium
The compact Power Counter, 24 pounds against the old kiosk's 66, anchored a record 62-unit opening at Northwestern's $870 million Ryan Field and 52 more at the Bills' new Highmark Stadium. Mashgin's last announced round was a $1.5 billion Series B in May 2022, leaving demand data as the only public read on that valuation.
Vincent Jiangthree-minute read
Mashgin's two newest machines, the Power Counter and the Mini, have sold out of stock twice since launching this year, chief revenue officer Brandon Scott told Sports Business Journal on October 28 12. The Palo Alto company, founded in 2013, builds checkout counters whose cameras recognize whatever a shopper sets down, no barcodes, and total the order in seconds 13.
The first big tests set records. Northwestern's $870 million Ryan Field opened in early October with 62 Power Counters, Mashgin's largest initial deployment at a sports venue, and the Buffalo Bills' new Highmark Stadium carries 52 units, nearly 120 machines across the two builds 12.
Ryan Field's 62 units are Mashgin's largest opening order at a sports venue
New-venue orders now start in the dozens, not in pilot pairs
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Ryan Field (Northwestern) | 62 units |
| Highmark Stadium (Bills) | 52 units |
| LA Memorial Coliseum (USC) | 16 units |
No round since 2022 to test the $1.5 billion
Mashgin is private. Its last announced round was May 2022: $62.5 million led by the venture firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA) at a $1.5 billion valuation, $74.7 million raised in all, with Matrix Partners, Susa Ventures and Y Combinator also on the cap table 4.
At that raise it had 800-plus locations, $310 million in processed transactions and a claim it was already profitable 4. It now counts 5,000-plus locations and 40 million monthly users 5, and subscriptions start at $1,000 a month including hardware 6. The entry tier alone implies at least $60 million a year, an estimate built on company figures, not a disclosure 56.
The compact redesign chases space-starved markets
The redesign attacks the binding constraint, counter space: 24 pounds against the old kiosk's 66, roughly 700 fewer square inches, installation in under 10 minutes instead of about 30, and an open back so one employee oversees several units 1.
By its own count Mashgin is in 65% of professional stadiums, more than 170 sports venues in all, roughly two-thirds of that market with a third still to win 123. The next leg runs through the 4,000-plus convenience stores it already claims, plus airports and campuses 6.
The walk-out rival did not survive
The rival walk-out architecture, ceiling cameras and entry gates tracking shoppers through a store, did not survive: Grabango shut down in October 2024 after failing to raise more funding 10, and Amazon−1.16% — Amazon, down 1.16 percent today took Just Walk Out out of its Amazon Fresh grocery stores in 2024 in favor of smart carts, selling the system on to 130-plus third-party sites 8.
The credit card beat the stadium app
Northwestern touts concession registers that get fans back to their seats in under two minutes 9. At the Iowa game in early November, Axios found the grab-and-go itself seamless but checkout slowed by fans fumbling the stadium app and by spotty Wi-Fi: "Sometimes an old-fashioned credit card is still the fastest technology in the building" 9. The weak link was the venue's payments and network rather than the cameras, though Ryan Field is the install Mashgin is marketing from 19.
Watch supply, then the convenience-store order book
Scott says production has caught up with orders 1. The next signal is whether convenience stores and airports start buying at Ryan Field scale rather than pilot pairs. Northwestern hosts Illinois on November 28, its last home game of the season 9, and any funding announcement would be the first since 2022 4.
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