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 Fresho, MoEngage, Take Blip, Reflex, Kushki, and Onfleet.
1. Fresho
Fresho has closed a £8 million Series A funding round.
The startup’s tech is used by chefs who reach for their device to choose exact quantities for their needs, much like an online shopping experience but specifically tailored to the B2B food industry.
Buyers see live prices and specials, allowing for informed product choices and assistance in food cost management.
Suppliers receive the order immediately in a dashboard. The real-time sales data enables suppliers to manage purchasing more efficiently and eliminates wastage before it becomes an issue.
2. MoEngage
Customer engagement platform, MoEngage, has raised $77 million in a Series E funding round led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and B Capital.
There was also participation from the company’s existing investors, Steadview Capital, Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Eight Roads Ventures, and Matrix Partners India.
This is the third fundraising undertaken by MoEngage in the last 12 months, having raised $32.5 million in July and $30 million in December 2021, taking its total investment to $178 million within eight years.
3. Take Blip
Take Blip, an online messaging platform for businesses, has raised $70 million in a Series B round led by Warburg Pincus.
4. Onfleet
Last mile delivery specialist Onfleet has closed a $23 million funding round, enabling it to expand its team and enhance its platform.
The round, which brings total funding raised to just over $40 million, was led by Kayne Partners, with participation from Almanac Insights, TB Ventures, and existing investor Savant Growth.
Kayne Partner’s Robert Shilton will join Onfleet’s Board of Directors.
“As the largest traditional bricks and mortar grocery chain in the US, we have an enormous opportunity to serve even more consumers with a stellar delivery programme,” says Ryan James, Sr. Manager Operations Innovation, Kroger.
“Integrating the Onfleet platform into our systems has allowed us not only to expand our reach, but it has also helped us better track our orders in real time and ensure our customers are getting their deliveries in an efficient and timely way.”
5. Klasha
Klasha has announced an additional $2.1 million fundraise, to complete its $4.5 million seed round.
This included Amex Ventures and Global Ventures.
Klasha builds cross-border commerce solutions for African consumers wanting to make international payments from the continent and international businesses wanting to sell into Africa.
It will use the proceeds to expand into five more African countries in 2022 and re-launch its consumer app - renamed KlashaCart - to allow African consumers to shop from eligible international merchants online.
Sacha Haider, Partner at Global Ventures, says: “African consumers want the same thing as consumers everywhere else – access to quality products, at a good price, through a seamless shopping experience.”
“Despite impressive growth, e-commerce only makes up 2-5% of total retail on the continent, highlighting the significant opportunity to provide a better experience for the 520 million digital buyers that are anticipated in Africa by 2025.”
“Klasha's end-to-end check-out solution is designed specifically for key friction points faced by the African consumer including payment methods, currency acceptance, and a fragmented logistics landscape. Jess’s global operational experience across e-commerce and logistics uniquely positions her to solve this problem, and we’re so excited to support on her journey.”
6. Reflex
Reflex, an online marketplace that connects retail associates with brands in need of staffing help, has emerged from stealth and announced a $4.5 million oversubscribed seed funding round.
This was led by Indicator Ventures, with additional investment from Sugar Capital and Red Swan Ventures.
This brings the total raised to $5.95 million after Reflex bagged an initial $1.45 million pre-seed round in 2021.
All previous investors participated in the seed round, including ATX Venture Partners, Precursor Ventures, Active Capital and Clutch VC.
7. DIGISEQ
Wearable payments venture, DIGISEQ, has secured an undisclosed investment from software company, RTEKK Holdings, part of Investcorp.
Ido Kariti, Head of Business Development at Rtekk, says: “We are delighted to be working with such an innovative and disruptive business. The synergies between Rtekk and DIGISEQ create a wider solution benefitting from each other’s customers and partnerships.”
“This is just the beginning of DIGISEQ’s journey, even though they’ve already achieved so much.”
“The pace and the popularity of wearables and invisible payments is only going to accelerate and, with the revolutionary RCOS solution, as well as existing partnerships with Apple and MasterCard, we’re excited to bring DIGISEQ’s wearable tech services to banks and other issuers who are looking for new ways to attract and connect with customers, drive up transaction usage and create new use cases.”
8. Juni
Juni has bagged $206 million in funding — a $100 million Series B and a further $106 million in debt — to build out its financial platform for e-commerce businesses.
The conclusion of this round brings Juni’s total funding to $282 million to date.
“We’re very proud to have secured this funding in such a challenging environment”, says Samir El-Sabini, Co-founder and CEO at Juni.
“We’re on a mission to give e-commerce businesses peace of mind by making financial management easy. I know first-hand the frustrations of running an e-commerce business and time wasted on spend management, the lack of visibility of cashflow and scaling ad campaigns.”
“With this funding, we will help e-commerce businesses win by building the right insights, features and integrations while injecting capital into their marketing spend. We’re committed to building the best financial companion for e-commerce and we’re thrilled to have fantastic investors onboard who share our strategic vision.”
9. Kushki
Kushki, a LatAm payment technology company, has secured $100 million extension of its Series B fundraising at a valuation north of $1 billion.
The latest round includes participation from new and existing investors, including Kaszek Ventures, Clocktower Ventures, SoftBank Latin America Fund and DILA Capital, and brings the total amount raised in the combined Series B to $186 million.
“We are excited to continue backing the entire Kushki team. Over the past few years, they have shown an outstanding ability to execute and to attract the best customers and talent in the region. We believe Kushki is just getting started in its mission to connect LatAm with efficient digital payments," says Hernan Kazah, Managing Partner at Kaszek.
10. Instant Commerce
Headless e-commerce solution startup Instant Commerce has secured a €2 million pre-seed round led by firstminute capital.
The founders of Storyblok, Wandera, Snyk and Supercell also participated.
Instant Commerce, which was founded in 2022, will use the funding to double its team, further develop its platform and build brand awareness throughout Europe.
