Tech firm behind in-store ads at Currys and Iceland goes bust
The firm that provides high street giants Currys and Iceland with in-store digital advertising has declared insolvency, Morning Wire can reveal.
Software company Stratacache announced its winding-up of its UK operations and appointed liquidators on Wednesday, according to insolvency filings.
This comes only months after the US digital screen specialist partnered with budget supermarket giant Iceland to roll out cutting-edge sensor-based tech across its stores.
The partnership was set to equip Stratacache’s “Walkbase” technology equipped at 766 Iceland stores, which uses sensors to measure how many people see the digital advert.
Celebrating the deal, the supermarket said it established the “most advanced in-store media network in the UK,” but Stratacache’s insolvency now leaves Iceland’s system at risk of meltdown.
“With Stratacache’s technology, we will be able to not only serve our customers better but also work collaboratively and openly with brands to make sure their marketing spend delivers results,” Iceland’s head of retail media, Adam Smith, had said.
Tech firm cuts jobs
Stratacache recently announced plans to lay off staff as the Ohio-based firm battles rising tariffs, supply chain disruption and surging memory prices.
The number of employees losing their jobs has not been disclosed, but it is below the 50 worker threshold at which a formal redundancy notification would be triggered, according to local news outlet Drayton Daily News.
The firm was threatened with being struck off the Companies House register in March 2025, but this was rescinded the following April.
Stratacache employs around 1,200 staff and manages around 2.5m devices across 30 global offices, according to AV magazine.
PRN Retail Media, a company operated by Stratacache, provides digital media displays to FTSE 250-listed electrical retailer Currys. PRN also declared insolvency on Wednesday.
The retailer partnered with PRN to expand its “Currys Connected Media” system into all of its 297 stores in the UK and Ireland.
Curry’s ad screens could face blackout
These “dynamic media spaces” had enabled Currys to advertise brands on screens in its shops, but it is unclear whether these systems will be forced offline by PRN’s insolvency.
“Currys has the largest TV display network in the UK, and through PRN they are able to extend their already impressive, connected media network to reach shoppers across every stage of their journey to purchase,” the digital advertising firm’s chief executive, Kevin Carborne, had said.
PRN’s most recent accounts are overdue, according to Companies House, and should have been submitted last week, on 7 May. The firm was only set up in August 2024.
It is understood that PRN ceased working with Currys in 2025, a matter of months after the two firms began their partnership, when the retailer chose a different provider.
Both Stratacache and PRN appointed Mark Supperstone and Simon Jagger of S&W Partners to lead the winding-up of the firms.
An Iceland Foods spokesperson said: “Iceland are currently in the process of securing a new partnership for our future digital media rollout programme.”
Currys, Stratacache and PRN were contacted for comment.