Ten retail technology funding rounds you need to know about
RTIH rounds up the retail systems ventures who have been making waves with major investments, including Nuro, Selazar, 8fig, Deliverr and GetFaster.
1. Nuro
Autonomous vehicle company Nuro has announced a $600 million round of funding led by Tiger Global Management.
This has pushed its valuation to around $8.6 billion, according to media reports.
There was also participation from Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Gaorong Capital, Google, Kroger, SoftBank Vision Fund 1, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Woven Capital, and other existing investors as part of the venture’s Series D funding round.
The cash will support the development and deployment of Nuro’s autonomous delivery service across the US.
2. Selazar
E-commerce fulfilment startup Selazar has announced a £20 million investment that, it says, will significantly increase its valuation, enhance its UK network and fund expansion into Europe, the US, and Latin America.
The funding will also see Selazar, which launched in 2019, offer additional e-commerce fulfilment technology and financial services to customers.
The investment by an unnamed “large global investment group”, will initially see the Northern Ireland-based venture open new warehouses in Ireland and the Netherlands, followed by four additional facilities in the United States and one each in Mexico and Colombia, respectively.
The capital injection adds to an initial seed investment from Foresight Group, Invest Northern Ireland and angel investors in November 2019.
3. Oja
Ethnic grocery delivery service, Oja, has raised $3.4 million in pre-seed funding in a round led by LocalGlobe.
Acequia Capital, Tiny VC and black angel group, HoaQ Fund also participated, alongside angels said to be associated with Sainsbury’s, Taster, Booking.com, Deliveroo, Trouva and King.com.
Founded in 2020, Oja, which is Yoruba, a Nigerian language, for market, ships orders from its own warehouses and dark stores to homes across London.
At launch, it is focused on Afro-Caribbean cultures, and has plans to expand further to cover more cultures, and more communities nationwide in the coming year.
4. Cymbio
Cymbio, an online marketplace and drop ship automation platform, has completed a $20 million Series B financing round led by Corner Ventures.
There was also participation from existing investors Udi Angel, Vertex Ventures, Yuval Tal (founder of Payoneer) and new investors Chris North (ex-Amazon MD) and Jeff Weiser (ex-Shopify CMO).
Cymbio has raised $27million in total (from Series A and B rounds).
5. 8fig
8fig, a provider of equity free funding and supply chain management tools for e-commerce sellers, has wrapped a $50 million Series A funding round.
It will use the funds to accelerate growth and expand its lending capabilities to more e-commerce businesses.
Investors included Battery Ventures, LocalGlobe, and Matt Robinson, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Nested and GoCardless.
As part of the round, Silicon Valley Bank will also provide a credit facility to accelerate 8fig’s growth and expand its funding capabilities to more e-commerce sellers.
“By reinventing the way e-commerce sellers manage their supply chain, we are helping these businesses scale with confidence,” says Yaron Shapira, Co-Founder and CEO, 8fig.
“Our rapid growth – more than 200% in just six months since our seed round – demonstrates the efficacy of 8fig’s growth planning technology. With this new support, we look forward to ramping up operations as we take the fear out of financing for e-commerce sellers.”
6. GetFaster
German quick commerce startup GetFaster has raised €7.5 million in seed funding.
GetFaster, which focuses on the soft discounter part of the delivery market, plans to use the cash for coverage expansion, customer base growth, and product range development.
Investors included AngelsDeck, AltaIR, St.Nicolas Trust, Raison Asset Management, and Fores Ventures.
In May, GetFaster raised €1.5 million from AltaIR Capital and other backers. The next stage is to secure an A round of €40 million from tier-1 funds.
7. Flytrex
Flytrex, an Israeli drone delivery company working with such partners as Walmart, has bagged $40 million in Series C funding, in a round headed up by BRM Group.
It will use the cash to continue developing its hardware and software, along with more business partnerships as it builds a drone delivery service in the US.
The Series C round brings the total raised by Flytrex to $60 million.
8. Uncrowd
Arete has led a £3 million investment into customer analytics startup Uncrowd.
Begin and Matrix Capital also participated in the round. This builds on a a £500,000 seed funding round in 2020.
Uncrowd Co-founder Richard Hammond has over 30 years’ experience in the retail sector and is the author of Friction/reward: Be your Customer’s First Choice.
This became the framework for the venture’s business model, following a collaboration of ideas with fellow Co-founder and friend of 21 years, Rocky Howard.
The company was named as Microsoft’s Global Startup Partner of the Year in 2020 and is currently working with a number of brands in the UK and the US. The deal with Arete will enable Uncrowd to further develop its platform and expand its team.
9. Deliverr
Deliverr, a US-based e-commerce fulfilment startup, has landed $250 million in Series E funding, bringing its total raised to over $500 million.
The round, which was led by Tiger Global with participation from 8VC, Activant, GLP, Brookfield Technology Partners, and Coatue, values Deliverr at $2 billion post-money.
10. Facily
Facily, a social commerce marketplace, has pulled in over $366 million in funding across four different rounds during the last year.
Most recently, it announced a $250 million Series D that was led by DX Ventures and Delivery Hero, with Citius as co-anchor investor. That investment valued the startup at $850 million.
