Retailers may care about what you see when you’re shopping, but a Dallas technology startup wants stores and restaurants to focus more on another crucial sense: your hearing.
Qsic, which relocated its headquarters to North Texas last year, is enabling some of the biggest companies in the world to improve the audio experience for visitors with better quality and tailored tunes. At the same time, it’s offering simple tools to let brands leverage in-store marketing for products that can be literally be at an arm’s-length.
“Audio is … a very powerful emotive medium, so it adds a lot to the environment,” said Matt Elsley, CEO and co-founder of Qsic. “You can grab people’s attention really well. … They don’t have to be looking at a screen or something. If you’re anywhere in the store, we can capture your attention very easily.”
Qsic, which is another example of the many corporate relocations to North Texas, is helping retailers find new ways to maximize their physical locations for the many customers who still make trips to stores – even amid the rise of digital options. According to the U.S. Census, e-commerce makes up less than one-fifth of sales nationally. The startup — while leveraging AI skills and its own audio prowess — has landed some big-time customers such as 7-Eleven and McDonald’s.
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“Retail media has become a real powerhouse for the retailers,” Elsley said.
Qsic got some help with growth with a “B” funding round for $25 million, according to a statement earlier this year. Elsley said the company has roughly doubled the number of employees in the past year to approximately 80 to 85 people. It should see about that same rate of expansion in the next 12 months or so.
Qsic is playing in a market that’s getting more attention from retailers around the country. That includes companies such as Walmart Radio, which enables in-store ads, along with home improvement giant Lowe’s, which also enables audio messaging for shoppers.
For 7-Eleven Inc., Qsic’s audio service “authentically connects” with in-store customers to drive measurable results for brand partners, according to a statement from Mario Mijares, vice president of marketing, insights, loyalty and monetization platforms.
“Audio is the easiest and most cost-effective way to influence consumer behavior within the convenience store environment,” Mijares said in a statement from the start-up. “Qsic has already proven its value in our stores.”
At one 7-11 in recently in Dallas, an upbeat song with a poppy feel played for customers. Then a promotion for bacon lovers pizza followed by other promotional materials. From there, another song with happy vibes serenaded shoppers.
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Making beautiful music
Broadly, Qsic’s audio platform reaches over 100 million shoppers at the point of purchase monthly, and it has tens of thousands of speakers pumping out audio.
The company specializes in “branded curation” for its customers, helped by demographic data on a brand’s customers, it can ensure the audio soundtrack has the right voice and mood. The technology also enables its clients to scale up the service at multiple locations.
And Qsic’s service goes further, helping figure out the best time to play a series of songs. It programs a playlist schedule to ensure the music is most appropriate. Qsic also ensures the same songs won’t be played in the same order each day.
CEO Matt Elsley poses for a photograph at the Qsic office in Dallas, Texas, on Jul 23, 2025.
Jason Janik / Special Contributor
Then there’s the speakers themselves. They are designed to address the challenges of the retail shop, providing a platform that dynamically adapts volume levels to keep a consistent listening experience. So, an area of the store that’s noisier might get the audio at a higher level.
Sound of a sale
At the same time, the in-store audio has spaces for advertising products for shoppers using technology tools that predict the right message at the right time. At the same time, there are AI tools for crafting marketing spots.
So, if it’s the right time for a snack or soda company to promote their products, the in-store network can run spots.
“We’ve developed a whole bunch of AI tools that will sense when products are in high-demand periods,” he said. “It’ll place the correct ad content to capture that high-intent period, to drive over-the-counter sales.”
From there, there are tools for tracking how the sales actually performed for their suppliers. Retailers can segment results by store location, product category or time period to understand what’s driving sales.
The promotions, which include internal marketing spots, are working at 7-Eleven through its “Gulp Media Network.” Stores with the in-store feature have shown better sales on products, Mijares said during a panel interview that was posted on YouTube. For example, an energy drink introduced a new flavor several months ago — and the stores that had radio ads showed an 8% unit higher lift than the stores that didn’t.
The “sonic logo” with the branding captures the attention of shoppers, Mijares said.
“We’re relying less on cardboard in the stores and more on audio,” Mijares said.
Moving to Dallas
With those services in hand, Qsic is now taking care of customers from its headquarters in downtown Dallas, where it has been since last year.
The move made sense for Qsic, with the U.S. being a hub for innovation in its industry, Elsley said. It’s also home to some of the biggest chains in the world.
“If you’re an in-store technology that can drive value in retail media, America is the pinnacle of this space,” Elsley said.
Elsley settled on North Texas even though it also had a presence in Silicon Valley. The Texas hub is nestled in a part of the country that enables easy travel to client sites in every corner of the country.
“Dallas is just so strategically well located in America that you can fly sort of point to point anywhere you need to be very quickly,” Elsley said. Also, “I could get on a plane this afternoon and be back in Melbourne within 17 hours.”
Elsley said it’s been a good move for him and the company — including on a personal level. People have been “so welcoming,” he said. For example, when Thanksgiving came around after the move, he admitted to neighbors that he didn’t know much about it – and was soon invited to a home to experience the annual tradition.
“It’s that kind of thing that just seems to happen all the time,” Elsley said.