Pointy

What Pointy does

Pointy was a Dublin-headquartered technology company founded in 2014 that built software to automatically surface brick-and-mortar retailers' in-store product inventory on Google Search, Google Maps, and the Google Shopping tab. The product used wired barcode scanners and integrations with compatible point-of-sale systems (Clover, Square, Lightspeed) to capture UPC/EAN-coded products at the till and convert them into structured product feeds, eliminating the manual catalog-entry burden typical of small retailers. Delivery partners (Instacart, DoorDash, Uber Eats) could also supply inventory data as opt-in product sources. Google acquired Pointy in 2020 and fully integrated the service into Google Business Profile, rebranding the application as the Local Inventory app; the original Pointy brand, legal entity, and independent operations no longer exist as a standalone business.

The core product portfolio now consists of the Local Inventory app (automated POS-based inventory syncing), a Product Editor (manual one-by-one product submission as a fallback when no compatible POS exists), and Free Local Listings surfaced through Google Merchant Center. Distribution is entirely self-serve via the Google Business Profile Manager interface, with eligibility limited to merchants in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, and Australia who operate physical stores with manufacturer-coded UPC/EAN barcodes. No APIs or SDKs are exposed externally.

The revenue model is freemium and structurally non-monetized at the user level: merchants receive the service at no charge, with cost absorbed into Google's local commerce platform investment rather than recovered via subscription, transaction fees, or advertising. Pre-acquisition, Pointy raised approximately $19.2 million across three disclosed rounds (2015, 2017, 2018) from investors including Polaris Partners, Vulcan Capital, Frontline Ventures, Draper Associates, LocalGlobe, Seedcamp, and Audrey Capital. As a post-acquisition product inside Google's portfolio, Pointy has no independent revenue, capitalization, or operating P&L.

Name

Pointy

Website

https://pointy.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Commerce / Retail Inventory Visibility

NAICS

Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (459120)

akta.pro primary industry

Social Commerce Enablement (Shops, Catalog, Checkout, Link-in-bio) (CRAFANAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Omnichannel Commerce & Click-and-Collect Platforms (BPAMAGAL)

Keywords

• Local inventory sync
• In-store product listings
• POS integration
• Google Business Profile
• Local commerce software

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Free Local Listings Service: Pointy/Local Inventory app is provided entirely free of charge to eligible merchants. Google provides the service at no cost to help brick-and-mortar retailers showcase in-store inventory on Google surfaces.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Pointy, now fully integrated into Google as the Local Inventory app, is a free service that automatically showcases brick-and-mortar retailers' in-store products on Google Search, Maps, and the Shopping tab. It syncs product inventory directly from compatible point-of-sale systems (Clover, Square, Lightspeed) or delivery partners (Instacart, DoorDash, Uber Eats) using UPC/EAN barcode data, eliminating the need for merchants to manually maintain product feeds.

Product overview

Pointy was a standalone product that has now been fully integrated into Google and rebranded as the Local Inventory app. The core offering is an automatic in-store product showcase service that syncs retail inventory from compatible POS systems (Clover, Square, Lightspeed) and delivery partners (Instacart, DoorDash, Uber Eats) to Google Search and Maps. The product portfolio consists of the Local Inventory app as the primary automated syncing tool, the Product Editor as a manual fallback option, and Free Local Listings as an included benefit through Merchant Center. Merchants in eligible countries (US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia) with physical stores using UPC/EAN barcode scanners can use this no-charge service to display their in-store inventory to local customers searching on Google.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ClovercoreTechnology or IntegrationClover is a compatible POS system for the Local Inventory app. Pointy/Local Inventory connects to Clover's point-of-sale system to automatically sync in-store product inventory to Google Search and Maps.
• SquarecoreTechnology or IntegrationSquare is a compatible POS system for the Local Inventory app. The integration allows Square-using retailers to automatically display in-store inventory on Google surfaces.
• LightspeedcoreTechnology or IntegrationLightspeed is a compatible POS system for the Local Inventory app. Retailers using Lightspeed can automatically showcase their in-store products on Google Search and Maps.

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Yext: Yext is a digital presence platform that helps businesses manage listings, reviews, and local search visibility across publisher networks. It is directly comparable to Pointy/Local Inventory app in addressing brick-and-mortar retailers' need for online visibility, though Yext operates across many surfaces while Pointy focuses on Google's inventory surfaces specifically.
• Uberall: Uberall provides a location marketing platform that helps multi-location businesses sync store information, listings, and local inventory across search engines, maps, and directories. It competes directly with Pointy's local listings and inventory-sync use case, serving the same SMB and mid-market brick-and-mortar retailer segment.
• Chatmeter: Chatmeter is a brand intelligence and local SEO platform for multi-location businesses, focusing on listings management, review monitoring, and local search visibility. It targets the same brick-and-mortar retailer pain point that Pointy addresses - making local store information visible and accurate across digital channels.
• Birdeye: Birdeye is a customer experience and local business platform that helps multi-location businesses manage listings, reviews, messaging, and digital presence. It serves the same SMB and enterprise brick-and-mortar customer base as Pointy, with overlapping value propositions around local discoverability and digital storefront management.
• Rio SEO: Rio SEO provides enterprise local search and listings management software, including local pages, store locators, and inventory/location feeds for multi-location retailers. It is a directly comparable enterprise-grade solution for the same brick-and-mortar retailer local-inventory-visibility problem Pointy solves.
• Synup: Synup is a location intelligence and listings management platform for agencies and multi-location brands, syncing business data and inventory across publishers including Google. It competes with Pointy in enabling brick-and-mortar retailers to manage their local digital presence and product/store visibility.

Broad incumbents

• Moz Local: Moz Local (now part of Moz) is a well-established local SEO and listings management tool serving SMBs and agencies. While broader than Pointy's inventory-sync focus, it addresses the same fundamental need of helping local businesses appear accurately across search engines and directories.
• Shopify (Storefront & Shop App): Shopify enables omnichannel commerce for retailers, including online store, POS, and local inventory features. It overlaps with Pointy on the broader problem of connecting brick-and-mortar retailers with online discovery, though Shopify is a full commerce platform rather than a focused inventory-feed product.
• Square (Block) Local & Online Channels: Square (Block) provides POS hardware/software plus Square Online and integrations that surface local merchant inventory. While Square is both a Pointy integration partner and a broad commerce platform, its online/offline bridging capabilities put it in direct conceptual competition for the same retailer workflow Pointy addresses.

Emerging players

• Vendasta: Vendasta is a white-label platform that enables agencies and resellers to serve SMB clients with digital marketing, listings, and commerce tools. It addresses an adjacent problem to Pointy - helping local businesses get found online - and overlaps on customer segments (SMB retailers) and channels (POS-adjacent ecosystems).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pointy
• Facebookfacebook.com/getpointy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pointy---find-anything-locally

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pointy