Including mirrAR and Reapp: Seven retail technology funding rounds you need to know about
RTIH rounds up seven retail systems ventures who have recently secured significant investments in their businesses, including refurbed, GreyScout, etaily, and Zelig.
1. mirrAR
mirrAR, an Indian startup that specialises in augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, has completed a pre-series A capital raise of $1.75 million.
US-based Diaspark spearheaded the round, with participation from angel investors such as Aparna Chennapragada, CVP at Microsoft, Alagu Periyannan, Founder of BlueJeans by Verizon and Khadim Batti CEO and Co-founder Whatfix.
mirrAR’s technology enables brands and retailers to offer immersive 3D and 360-degree shopping experiences on websites, mobile apps, and social channels through the 3D Commerce Cloud offering.
Shoppers can virtually try on products or interact with them in their physical environment.
2. refurbed
refurbed, a marketplace for refurbished and upgraded electronics, has announced a $57 million Series C investment led by existing backers Evli, C4 and Speedinvest, with participation from All Iron and several newcomers.
This brings the total investment since the company's inception in 2017 to $130 million, following seeding in 2018 at just under $2 million, a Series A in 2020 ($17 million), and Series B in 2021 ($54 million).
“This milestone not only marks a significant achievement for us, but also signals the wider market's shift towards embracing sustainability in consumer choices,” says Peter Windischhofer, cC-founder and CEO at refurbed.
“Our scalable business model enables us to both grow profitably and make consumption more sustainable. A win-win for us and our planet.”
3. GreyScout
GreyScout, a SaaS platform for online brand protection, has secured a €3.5 million seed investment, bringing the total raised to €4.5 million.
The round was jointly led by Act VC and Tribal, with participation from Furthr VC, Enterprise Ireland, and HBAN.
Founded in 2020 by John Killian and Chris McCauley, GreyScout is designed to programmatically monitor e-commerce channels, identifying potential intellectual property infringements and grey market activity, with the company catching the attention of the likes of Nestle, Bayer, Netgear, Mayborn, and Dorel Maxi-Cosi.
4. Last.app
Last.app, a business operating system for restaurants, has landed a €5 million funding round led by Nauta Capital with participation from existing investors, All Iron and Bynd.
Last.app’s model as a restaurant’s operating system is designed to integrate with any type of software and hardware and offers a range of native modules, such as PoS system, online reservations, delivery hub, e-commerce, order and pay, and more than 200 integrations to various existing services.
The Spanish startup was founded in 2019 by Iván and Eric Nikolic who had first hand experience of the pains felt by the restaurant industry during their time at Glovo and used their knowledge to launch a product in 2021.
5. Reapp
UK-based Reapp, which provides data and analysis for brands and supermarkets, is expanding its product line-up as part of an ongoing £7 million investment.
It is focusing its investment on tech and AI capabilities to fulfil its ambition of providing the “ultimate field marketing toolkit” for major brands.
James Lamplugh, Reapp Commercial Director, comments: “We’re doing what no-one else is doing by consolidating our position as a leading all in one platform for field marketing needs. What we’re offering to businesses is game-changing.”
“We’re proud to be a local Stoke success story, working to transform the field marketing industry and assist big name brands throughout the UK. Our ongoing £7 million investment is part of our commitment to making our products and website as fast and user-friendly as possible.”
6. Zelig
Zelig has bagged $15 million in Series A funding to support the launch of its AI powered virtual try-on and styling technology.
Hilco Global led the funding round, joined by Bezikian Zareh, which brings the company to a $100 million valuation.
It was launched by MadaLuxe Group co-founders Sandy Sholl and Adam Freede, who have privately funding Zelig’s development for three years.
7. etaily
etaily has announced a $17.8 million Series A funding round as it scales its end-to-end e-commerce entry platform for brands to engage audiences across South East Asia.
This was led by Chinese and Taiwanese PE firm SKS Capital and co-led by Singapore’s Pavilion Capital.
Other investors were Japanese SBI ICCP Fund and Kaya Founders. The round also saw participation from the Magsaysay Family, Chan family, Foxmont Capital and JGDEV, the corporate venture capital arm of JG Summit Holdings.
etaily’s cap-table also includes other high profile SEA retailers and conglomerates such as the Ayala Corporation, the Cheng family behind the department store chain Landmark, as well as angel investors including Paulo Campos, former Co-Founder and CEO of Zalora and Anthony Oundijan, Managing Director and Senior Partner of Boston Consulting Group.
Continue reading…