Seven retail technology funding rounds you need to know about
RTIH rounds up the retail systems ventures whose funding rounds have been making headlines, including Klarna, Circ, Stockagile, Hivery, and The Beagle Button.
1. Klarna
Buy now pay later big hitter Klarna this week announced a $800 million financing round, valuing it at $6.7 billion.
This featured new investors including Mubadala, the sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, in addition to existing backers such as Sequoia and Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Sounds great until you take in to account that, in June 2021, the company was valued at $45.6 billion after closing on a $639 million round of funding, making it the highest valued private FinTech in Europe at that time. Ouch!
Michael Moritz, Chair at Klarna and a partner at Sequoia, blamed “investors suddenly voting in the opposite manner to the way they voted for the past few years”.
He predicted that “after investors emerge from their bunkers, the stocks of Klarna and other first-rate companies will receive the attention they deserve”.
2. Wonder Robotics
Wonder Robotics, a startup that specialises in the autonomous flight and landing of commercial drones, has closed a $4 million fundraising round led by Elron Ventures, in conjunction with Besadno Investment Group.
The cash will be used to scale up operation and marketing efforts, while developing technology for additional applications.
3. The Beagle Button
The Beagle Button, a startup pitched as the UK’s first browser extension that automatically recommends eco alternatives when you’re shopping online, says that it has raised a total of £489,000 so far.
Daniel Hemsley, CEO and Co-founder, says: “We all love the convenience of online shopping, but it comes with a terrible cost to our planet.”
“Even people who care about the environment struggle to find sustainable alternatives. We wanted to take all the time consuming research out of the process to make shopping sustainably as simple as a single click.”
“The Beagle Button is a tool that sits within your browser and recommends more sustainable and ethical products automatically, making planet friendly shopping more accessible, less of a chore and genuinely convenient.”
“We’re aware that sustainability means different things to different people so we encourage users to select their preferences so we can show them the best possible and most relevant alternatives.”
“Our priority is putting the absolute best, most sustainable products in front of people. We’re constantly evolving and looking for leading sustainable products and services.”
“Both merchants and our users themselves can suggest products to us. We’ll then assess these and if they pass our criteria, we’ll add them to our database.”
4. Patchworks
Retail integration platform Patchworks has received £1.5 million in funding from Gresham House Ventures.
This follows an initial investment of £3.3 million in August last year. Patchworks plans to utilise the new funds to continue its expansion into Europe.
The firm connects key e-commerce systems, including storefronts such as Shopify and BigCommerce, ERPs, CRMs, and fulfilment solutions, allowing retailers to simplify the integration of their technology stack.
Founded in 2014, it now has more than 200 customers.
Over the past year, it has partnered with the likes of ABYL, Gym+Coffee and Trinny London. They join its existing portfolio of brands such as Huel, Gymshark, Lounge Underwear, Castore, Cox & Cox and Simba Sleep.
5. Circ
Circular fashion company Circ has secured over $30 million in Series B funding.
This was led by the Bill Gates founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures with additional investment from new partners, including Inditex, Milliken & Company, and Lansdowne Partners.
Previous investors also participating included 8090 Partners, Alante Capital, Card Sound Capital, and Marubeni
Circ has developed a technology system that returns clothes to the raw materials from which they were made. It has raised north of $45 in total to date.
6. Stockagile
Stockagile has raised €2.5 million in a funding round led by Nauta Capital, 4Founders Capital, Angels, and Zone2Boost.
The Barcelona-based firm offers a cloud-based platform that enables inventory and sales management across all sales channels – bricks and mortar, online and marketplaces.
It will use the cash to enhance the platform’s offering and customer sales, as well as launch a new sales and marketing strategy.
7. Hivery
Hivery, a startup that has developed an optimisation platform for retailers, has bagged $30 million in a Series B round led by Tiger Global, with participation from Blackbird Ventures, AS1 Growth Partners and OneVentures.
The proceeds will fuel the growth of products that help bricks and mortar businesses make decisions about physical space and product displays.
"This new round, which includes new and existing investors, is a validation of our achievements to date and the strength of our vision,” says Jason Hosking, CEO and Co-founder at Hivery.
“This comes just months after CB Insights named us in their world Retail Tech 100 rankings.”
“We are excited to have Tiger Global as part of our investor team. Our investors all share our vision to bring AI-driven assortment and optimisation solutions to the global retail industry."
