Have a Look Inside Amazon's First 'Smart' Grocery Store

Leslie Ignacio

Leslie Ignacio is dot.LA's editorial intern. She is a recent California State University, Northridge graduate and previously worked for El Nuevo Sol, Telemundo and NBC and was named a Chips Quinn Scholar in 2019. As a bilingual journalist, she focuses on covering diversity in news. She's a Los Angeles native who enjoys trips to Disneyland in her free time.

Have a Look Inside Amazon's First 'Smart' Grocery Store

As soon as I stepped into the new Amazon Fresh store in Woodland Hills an employee asked if I wanted to shop with a regular cart or use their 'dash cart.'

The 35,000 square foot store that opened to the public on Friday is Amazon's first so-called smart grocery store as the e-commerce giant attempts to remake in-person shopping and push into the supermarket space.


The dash cart is the center of that effort. The toy-like cart has a screen in the middle of the handles that walks you through a tutorial on how to process the different items and which also allows you to see the total price of your trip as you're shopping. It's bright green and black and smaller than your average grocery cart with no place for the dangling legs of a toddler.

I grabbed the dash cart. To start I had to open my Amazon app to sync it to the cart.

I held my account's QR code in front of a camera affixed to the cart and once scanned, the cart made a pinging sound and told me I could start shopping. Now everything I put in the cart would be charged to my account.

The cart is not required, though. And shoppers can still opt to go through a checkout stand with a clerk.

Amazon Fresh opened their store to the public last week after previously being invitation only.

The Woodland Hills location at 6245 Topanga Canyon Blvd is likely a window into the future of Amazon grocery shopping. It allows customers to shop in-store, pick up Amazon Fresh online orders within the hour and even includes a return drop off center. It comes in the middle of a pandemic in which the online retailer has seen their grocery sales triple year-over-year.

At the same time, growth of their Prime membership which is key to the grocery store experience is accelerating.

Inside Amazon Fresh Grocery Store


When I arrived on a Monday morning, the aisles were eerily quiet. Clerks that normally stock aisles or buzz around the cash register were nearly non-existent. But Alexa seemed to be everywhere.

She's also available at different stands throughout the store to help customers locate specific items.

The store has a variety of produce, a meat and seafood section, and even a kitchen area where you can pick up prepared items like sushi or pizza. It felt like Whole Foods cafeteria-like layout but a bit less expensive. The chicken tenders looked especially appealing.

The different aisles carry your typical brand name items like Quakers and Coca-Cola, but there's often signs pointing out items that are locally grown and produced. Across the store, Amazon had their own packaged goods sprinkled throughout, including in the meat and seafood section, which was filled with Fresh-branded options.

Fresh produce has a number code that needs to be entered into the monitor on the dash cart, once detected and placed in the cart it weighs the item to give the total price. Barcode items are scanned as you place them in the cart through the use of the cameras and sensors placed in the front area of the cart.

Both options release a ding sound to let you know the item has been added correctly, but the process is hardly seamless. I had to re-enter items like my strawberry flavored Chobani a few times until the cart was able to detect it.

The cart itself was very small as it can only hold two bags before overflowing with items which is not ideal for a family looking to shop for a week's worth of groceries.

Yet, the simplicity of the checkout almost felt unreal. To checkout, all I had to do was walk through the dash cart lane. Once I walked over a mat, an automated message appeared on my cart monitor showing my bill. That was it. I was done. But the experience was so new, I wasn't even sure that I paid. I asked the clerk, 'Oh, is that it?" Yep, he replied and told me to watch my email for a receipt.

I grabbed my bags and walked out, having minimal interaction with humans.

🌱Redefining Female Pleasure—and LA's New Wellness Club: What to Know

🔦 Spotlight

Happy Friday Los Angeles!

Love.Life is a high-end, holistic health and wellness club recently opened in Los Angeles, founded by former Whole Foods Market executives John Mackey, Walter Robb, and Betsy Foster. The 45,000-square-foot facility combines advanced medical diagnostics, personalized fitness and nutrition plans, and rejuvenating therapies under one roof. Membership options range from $300 to $50,000 annually, offering services such as detailed health assessments, specialized treatments, and access to various wellness modalities including cryotherapy, red light therapy, and advanced fitness equipment. With autoimmune diseases on the rise, the club aims to provide a comprehensive health experience that blends Eastern and Western practices, with additional perks like an on-site café and pickleball courts. Love.Life's approach emphasizes preventive care and personalized health management, catering to individuals who are willing/able to invest significantly in their well-being.

In parallel to this trend towards high-end, integrated wellness solutions, Hello Cake, an LA-based sexual health startup, is making strides in addressing women's sexual dysfunction—a field where treatment options have been notably scarce. While erectile dysfunction has seen significant innovation for men, women’s sexual health remains inadequately addressed, despite the Cleveland Clinic's estimate that 43% of women experience sexual dysfunction compared to 31% of men (hello underserved market). Hello Cake is introducing two new prescription products: Libido Lift Rx, a dissolvable tablet featuring oxytocin, tadalafil, and L-citrulline, and O-Cream, a topical treatment containing sildenafil. Priced at $54 for six doses, these products aim to help women love life by tackling low libido, filling a significant gap in the market where female libido is often overlooked. Despite the lack of FDA approval for these specific uses and limited trials, Hello Cake seeks to provide a novel approach to a common, yet medically nebulous issue, highlighting a crucial area of unmet medical need. Given its vibrant health and wellness culture, LA provides an ideal backdrop for innovative health companies like Love.Life and Hello Cake to address emerging needs in a city that's both health-conscious and open to new wellness trends.


🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

  • Sahara AI, a startup that operates a decentralized network that allows users to control, scale, and monetize their personal knowledge and copyrights using AI and blockchain technology, raised a $43M Funding Round co-led by Pantera Capital, Binance Labs, and Polychain Capital. - learn more
  • Ambercycle, a maker of recycled polyester, raised a $10M Funding Round from Shinkong Synthetic Fibers. - learn more
  • JetZero, a developer of blended-wing aircraft, raised funding from Alaska Airlines. - learn more

LA Venture Funds

    LA Exits

    • Datum Source, a developer of software that helps hardware companies find manufacturers, was acquired by Hadrian, a defense tech company. - learn more

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    🎓 LA’s Startup Edge

    Los Angeles is a key center for tech and entrepreneurship, driven by its major universities. Caltech produced a “founding father” of artificial intelligence and USC's Viterbi School collaborates with industry and has produced companies like Riot Games.


    Image Source: UCLA

    University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

    UCLA is a major source of tech talent in LA, granting approximately 2,000 engineering degrees from Bachelor’s of Science to Ph.D.s annually. The university fosters innovation through:

    • Startup UCLA: An on-campus accelerator program that provides mentorship, funding, and resources to student entrepreneurs.
    • Anderson School of Management: Offers entrepreneurship programs and hosts startup competitions.
    Companies Founded by UCLA Alumni: ChowNow by Eric Jaffe; Blizzard Entertainment by Mike Morhaime; BAM Ventures, LegalZoom.com & The Honest Company by Brain Lee


    Image Source: USC

    University of Southern California (USC)

    USC is another key player in developing LA's tech workforce offering numerous programs and resources for aspiring entrepreneurs, including the Viterbi Startup Garage, USC Stevens Center for Innovation, and the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, which provides over 68 entrepreneurship courses taught by 27 professors and practitioners.The university fosters innovation through:

    Companies Founded by USC Alumni: Riot Games by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill; Salesforce by Marc Benioff


    Image Source: CalTech

    California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

    Caltech is a significant contributor to the tech talent pool in Los Angeles, producing around 600 graduates annually across various STEM fields, with a large portion likely in engineering disciplines. Additionally, Caltech alumni have founded 238 startup companies between 1995 and 2016, with 35% still active as of 2016, demonstrating the institution's strong support for entrepreneurship and innovation in the region. The university fosters innovation through:

    • Caltech Entrepreneurs Club: This student-run organization aims to develop Caltech's startup ecosystem through educational speaker series, networking events, and collaboration with administration to establish a founder-friendly environment.
    • Caltech Innovation Center: Provides startups with space to test, develop, grow, and commercialize deep technology ideas collaboratively.

    Companies Founded by Caltech Alumni: Intel by Gordon Moore, Quora by Adam D’Angelo, and John McCarthy one of the “founding fathers” of Artificial Intelligence


    Image Source: Pepperdine University

    Pepperdine University

    Pepperdine University contributes to Los Angeles' tech talent pool through its strong entrepreneurship programs and MBA offerings that emphasize innovation and startup development. 33% of its MBA students are actively working on startups during their studies and 85% are aspiring to start businesses

    Companies Founded by Pepperdine Alumni: Eventbrite by Julia Hartz

    These universities are crucial in developing LA's tech talent pool, offering programs that bridge the gap between academia and industry. Their initiatives in entrepreneurship and partnerships with local startups are helping to create a robust tech ecosystem in Los Angeles.

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    🎤 What Do Snoop Dogg And Anduril Have In Common?
    Image Source: WWD

    🔦 Spotlight

    Happy Friday Los Angeles!

    Snoop Dogg’s role at the 2024 Paris Olympics highlights a groundbreaking synergy between celebrity influence and high-impact innovation, much like Anduril’s disruptive advancements in defense technology (hear us out). In order to convey the impact of Snoop Dogg’s presence in the 2024 Paris Olympics, we thought it would be appropriate to do it littered with VC and tech jargon. Snoop Dogg’s presence at the 2024 Paris Olympics exemplifies a disruptive innovation with expansive market appeal. As NBC’s special correspondent, he’s leveraged his unique personal brand to create a high-impact engagement strategy that delivers exceptional viewer retention and engagement metrics. By integrating his “gangsta rap” roots with family-friendly content, Snoop has achieved a synergistic blend of authenticity and relatability, driving record-breaking ratings and optimizing cross-platform visibility. His involvement—from elite equestrian gear to athlete interactions—demonstrates a scalable model for enhancing brand partnerships and maximizing audience touchpoints. Snoop's strategic pivot not only redefines celebrity influence but also sets a new benchmark for leveraging cultural icons in a way that drives growth and amplifies impact across diverse demographics. As Snoop puts it, “My mind on my money and my money on my mind”—a statement that deeply resonates with the MVP of the 2024 Paris Olympics and the venture capital community.

    Speaking of high-impact innovation and money, Palmer Luckey’s defense tech startup, Anduril, has raised $1.5 billion and unveiled its new AI-powered manufacturing platform, Arsenal, aimed at producing tens of thousands of autonomous weapons annually. This funding, led by Founders Fund and Sands Capital, underscores a shift in military strategy towards high-tech, low-cost systems and rapid production capabilities. Inspired by tech giants like Apple and Tesla, Anduril's Arsenal platform and expansion efforts, including a new factory, are designed to address critical US military shortages and support the Pentagon’s focus on scalable, autonomous defense solutions amidst evolving global threats. Both Snoop Dogg and Anduril, based in the OC/LA area, embody how innovation and influence can reshape industries, proving that groundbreaking advancements and cultural impact are thriving on the West Coast.


    🤝 Venture Deals

    LA Companies

    • Agrovision, a company that grows and sells premium fruits like blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and table grapes, raised a $100M funding round at a $1b valuation from Aliment Capital, and others. - learn more
    • LeafAgriculture, a farm data management startup, raised an $11.3M Series A led by Spero Ventures, with Cultivian, Radicle Growth, and SP Ventures also participating. - learn more
    • Curio, a web3 game development company, raised a $5.7M Seed Round. Bain Capital Crypto and SevenX Ventures co-led, and were joined by OKX Ventures. - learn more
    • ProRata.ai, a startup that collaborates with media and music companies to ensure proper attribution and revenue sharing for content used by AI platforms, raised a $25M Series A. Investors included Mayfield, Revolution Ventures, Prime Movers Lab, and Idealab Studio. - learn more
    • Anduril, the Costa Mesa-based defense tech startup, has closed a $1.5B Series F that values the company at a whopping $14 billion co-led by Founders Fund and Sands Capital. - learn more
    • Filmustage, a startup that has built an AI-powered platform designed to enhance the film pre-production phase, raised a $1.5M Seed Round led by Raw Ventures. - learn more

    LA Venture Funds

    • 1AM Gaming led a $5M Seed Round for DSTLRY, a startup that offers a marketplace for buying, reading, and reselling digital comics. - learn more
    • Casa Verde led a $2M Seed Round for Growlink, a Denver company whose tech, including IoT controllers, sensors, and cultivation software, is specifically designed to optimize cannabis growing operations. - learn more


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