Walmart bought Memomi to bring AR eyewear try-on in house

Memomi is an AR optical technology startup whose virtual try-on takes digital measurements for eyewear shoppers.

Buying the AR partner already embedded in its stores beats licensing: in-house optical try-on powers an online eye-care push against 1-800 Contacts and Warby Parker.

Memomi had been Walmart's optical try-on partner since 2019, spanning more than 2,800 Walmart Vision Centers and 550 Sam's Clubs, and powering the optical e-commerce experience on SamsClub.com. In June 2022 Walmart announced it would acquire the AR startup — terms undisclosed — describing the deal as the 'next step' in personalised, affordable access to optical care online.

Cofounders Salvador Nissi Vilcovsky and Ofer Saban and other team members would join Walmart Global Tech when the deal closed in the coming weeks, pending regulatory approval. Walmart framed its interest as both tech and team, and kept the scope narrow: virtual optical try-on only, declining to discuss Memomi's ambitions in beauty, fashion, accessories and footwear. Executives tied the acquisition to Walmart Health & Wellness's mission of accessible care — and to competing with 1-800 Contacts and online brands like Warby Parker.

Memomi's team joined Walmart Global Tech as the deal moved to close; the startup became Walmart's in-house optical try-on capability.

Walmart bought a proven partner, not a bet: three years and roughly 3,300 store deployments de-risked the integration.

The target was the online optical market — Walmart cast the deal as its answer to 1-800 Contacts and Warby Parker.

It kept the scope narrow: virtual optical try-on only, with Memomi's beauty and fashion use cases explicitly declined.

The team mattered as much as the tech — founders and staff folded into Walmart Global Tech.

When a startup's tech is already load-bearing across your stores, acquisition is the natural next step — integration, not discovery, becomes the work.

The deal was set to close in the coming weeks following regulatory approval. Walmart kept stacking try-on technology — Zeekit for clothing, AR furniture preview — with Memomi as the optical layer inside Walmart Global Tech, serving the Walmart Health & Wellness online eye-care push.