Including Polytag, Packfleet, Autonomo, and ESProfiler: 16 retail technology funding rounds you need to know about
RTIH rounds up 16 retail systems ventures who have recently secured significant investments in their businesses, including sustainable delivery solutions, education platforms for tech workers, and product footprinting and supply chain decarbonisation AI driven SaaS offerings.
1. Sparqle
Sparqle, a sustainable delivery solutions startups, has announced the completion of a €1.2 million investment round.
The funding was led by a group of business angels including the former Managing Director of Deliveroo EU, former CTO of Just Eat Takeaway, and Bloomon founder, alongside Graduate Entrepreneur Fund.
The infusion of capital will be used to accelerate the development of Sparqle's technology platform, expand its sustainable delivery network, and fast track its expansion into additional European countries.
The company’s platform offers an integration between retailers, e-commerce brands, and sustainable delivery methods.
Through its proprietary software, rider app, and fleet of e-cargo bikes and electric vehicles, Sparqle aims to optimise delivery routes for maximum efficiency and minimal environmental impact.
2. Interview Kickstart
Education platform, Interview Kickstart, which is used by engineers to level up and secure careers in technology companies, has raised a $10 million funding round from Blume Ventures, the firm’s largest opening investment to date.
Interview Kickstart says that it has been profitable for several years, having trained over 20,000 professionals through its programmes spanning AI, machine learning, data science, engineering, and product management.
Graduates have landed top jobs at companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, Netflix, AirBnB, Uber, Apple, Lyft and LinkedIn.
The funding will be used to establish Interview its position as the largest player in the US market and help it expand its platform globally.
It has seen its customers get job offers over $250,000, with the highest compensation received being over $1.2 million.
In several instances, these people have seen their compensation double after levelling up through courses designed and taught by a pool of 500+ instructors from FAANG companies (Facebook/Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google and other top tier tech companies). Additionally, courses are offered in new disciplines such as Gen AI.
Interview Kickstart was founded by Soham Mehta (formerly with Box, eBay and Microsoft) and Ryan Valles (formerly with Accel Partners and CEO at dealsandyou.com.
Their mission was to build a platform allowing software engineers to keep pace with the industry and reach the highest bar in their careers, securing jobs at tech companies with 2% - 5% application acceptance rates.
3. ESProfiler
ESProfiler, a British cybersecurity startup, has bagged a £2.8 million seed round, led by Nauta Capital.
This builds on angel investments received in 2023.
The company says it is on a mission to tackle the widespread inefficiencies in enterprise cybersecurity investments.
The founding team, leveraging their first hand experience, identified critical gaps in how cybersecurity tools were being utilised. These tools often overlapped, were underutilised, and misaligned with the actual methods of adversaries and continued a frustrating cycle of inefficient security tooling churn.
4. Mondra
Mondra, a product footprinting and supply chain decarbonisation AI driven SaaS platform, has raised £3.6 million in pre-Series A funding.
Investors include 7 Generation Ventures, AlbionVC, GC Foodtech Ventures, Foodsparks by Peakbridge, Ponderosa Ventures, and Vala Capital.
The cash will be used to expedite Mondra’s roll-out to UK grocers, of whom, the company claims, 85% are signed up to use the platform.
The aim is to position Mondra for expansion beyond the UK, and beyond the private label food space into other retail and CPG segments. It will also enable the delivery of new retailer insight tools, enhanced agricultural data and carbon insetting.
Founded by Jason Barrett, the company’s platform enables organisations across the supply chain to record, share and monitor environmental data using a set of common tools, allowing the measurement and management of Scope 3 emissions.
It also lets users run Lifetime Cycle Assessments on thousands of products in a matter of hours, so, according to a press release, “brands and retailers can prioritise action, engage their suppliers in a meaningful way to reduce impacts and facilitate a commercially prosperous Net Zero food system.”
5. Collov AI
Collov AI has raised $10 million in Series A funding, led by cabinet manufacturer, GoldenHome Living Co.
Collov AI's AI Cabinet design is being used in over 3,000 GoldenHome Living stores throughout Asia and the brand's TikTok live broadcasts.
The solution is capable of learning and replicating the cabinet styles of various brands, generating bespoke designs within seconds.
Collov AI has also developed furniture AI physical integration technology, now in its second iteration. This is part of its ambition to transcend the cabinet sector, aiming to redefine the entire home furnishing industry with AI driven solutions.
6. tvScientific
tvScientific, a performance advertising platform for connected TV (CTV), has secured $9.4 million in a convertible note funding round that included new investors S4S Ventures, BDMI, and Progress Ventures joining investors including NBCU/Comcast, Norwest Capital Partners, Aperiam Ventures and Hearst Ventures.
With tvScientific, advertisers can buy and execute performance CTV campaigns with inventory partners, including Paramount+, Hulu, Discovery, ABC, CBS and NBC.
Last year, the company introduced the ability to buy CTV campaigns on a Cost-Per-Outcome basis, which enables advertisers to move beyond simple reach and frequency or MMM models and buy media based on real outcomes like CPA, ROAS, sales, and post-CTV campaign traffic.
Customers include Crocs, Groupon, and Fender.
“We are at a once in a lifetime transition from linear TV to internet enabled content delivery via streaming services, with over 50% of all TV viewing in the US now happening via streaming services. This opens up an entirely new cohort of advertisers for TV publishers” says Jason Fairchild, Co-Founder and CEO at tvScientific.
“Google and Meta have fuelled meteoric growth in advertising precisely because of their precision targeting and outcome-based measurement. tvScientific is on a mission to do the same thing for television and we are thrilled to work with a best-in-class partner like Sir Martin Sorrell and S4S Ventures to accelerate our progress.”
Sorrell, Founder and Executive Chairman at S4Capital, and Co-Founder and Partner at S4S Ventures, says: “Advertising via Connected TV is a sleeping giant. With half of US TV watching now taking place over streaming services and providers such as Amazon, Netflix and Disney all introducing new membership tiers with variable rates of advertising, partners who can drive lower funnel activation, performance, measurement, and ROI are positioned for huge success.”
“Jason and his team at tvScientific are a pioneering force in this fast-evolving industry and their platform has the potential to redefine how companies engage with their TV audiences.”
7. PawCo
PawCo Foods, an AI powered, plant-based dog food brand, has announced a $2 million seed funding round led by Elevate Ventures, as well as other angel investors such as Arash Ferdowsi, co-founder of Dropbox.
It says it will use the cash to scale its operations by opening a second production facility (a midwest location to complement its current facility in California).
And it will also further invest in growth, research and development, new recipes and marketing tactics to drive awareness for the plant-based pet food category.
"The widespread adoption of plant-based foods has changed how we approach nutrition; however, there has been less innovation in this category when it comes to pet food,” says Christopher Day, CEO at Elevate Ventures.
8. Polytag
Polytag has secured Series A seed funding for its mission to transform the recycling industry across the UK and Europe.
The undisclosed investment builds on partnerships with major UK retailers, including Ocado Retail, Aldi, and Co-op.
Polytag's technology offers real-time visibility and insights into single-use packaging throughout its lifecycle. Using its QR codes and Invisible UV Tags, the solutions enable FMCG brands to track and incentivise plastic packaging recycling.
The funding is led by Collateral Good, a climate first venture capital firm based in Switzerland, and co-led by Knop Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in startups that are building a better world.
The combined investment will fund the wider installation of Polytag’s Invisible UV Tag readers in material recovery facilities across the continent, offering a larger range of brands real-time insights on where, when, and how much of its packaging is being recycled.
9. Topsort
Artificial intelligence and machine learning-based technology startup, Topsort, has raised $20 million in Series A funding.
The round, which is led by Upload Ventures and returning seed round investors, Quiet Capital and Pear Ventures, sees the company valued at $150 million.
Topsort says it will use the cash to further scale its clean advertising platform that’s “free of creepy third-party cookie tracking and privacy invasive data – a significant departure from the advertising world of yesterday and a leap towards democratising the same kind of auction-based advertising that garnered massive profits for giants like Google and Amazon”.
Topsort has worked with such retailers, marketplaces and brands as Poshmark, Cencosud, Unilever, Coca-Cola, L’Oreal, General Mills, Glovo (part of Delivery Hero), and Phillips. It previously raised $8.6 million in a seed round in 2022.
10. Locally
Locally, a US-based technology provider bridging online and offline retail, has announced a growth equity investment led by Corbel Capital Partners, and Valency Capital.
Whilst the company declined to report the exact amount, it did describe the investment as significant.
It will use the cash to fuel technology development and platform services and enhance sales and marketing initiatives.
Specifically, Locally will grow its team, expand into adjacent industries, and raise its visibility with consumers, brands and retailers, including participation at Shoptalk, which takes place from 17th-20th Marchin Las Vegas.
11. FPS
UK-based electric fleet software specialist, Flexible Power Systems (FPS), has completed a £2.7 million financing round to accelerate commercialisation of its real-time EV and charger management platform for commercial vehicle fleets, FPS Operate.
Originally developed for John Lewis Partnership but expanded to address the needs of all commercial vehicle fleets, this integrates and operationalises charge points, vehicles, building energy management and logistics software systems.
The data is used for automated vehicle-task matching, smart charging, reporting and managing uptime, improving EV RoI.
12. Packfleet
Carbon-neutral courier Packfleet has raised $10 million in Series A funding.
This was co-led by General Catalyst, an early investor and Voyager Ventures, an early-stage climate fund.
All of Packfleet’s existing investors participated in the funding round, a roster that includes Creandum, Entree Capital and Founder Collective.
The cash will bolster Packfleet's presence in the London delivery market and also support the development of the firm’s proprietary routing software, Pathfinder.
Since launch in 2021, the B Corp certified courier has grown to more than 35 HQ employees, and now its 100+ drivers deliver for hundreds of businesses, including Who Gives A Crap, Pizza Pilgrims and HURR.
13. Bear Robotics
Bear Robotics, a specialist in service robotics and artificial intelligence solutions, has completed a $60 million Series C funding round, exclusively led by LG Electronics.
This will take the company into new territories, targeting emerging markets such as smart warehousing and supply chain automation, where it is poised to unveil its next-generation robotics platform.
This features autonomous navigation systems and adaptive learning algorithms, designed to meet the complex demands of modern supply chains and manufacturing processes.
14. Autonomo
Checkout-free software startup Autonomo has closed a £2 million seed funding round.
This was led by London-based Potter Ventures, the team behind the inamo restaurant group, and Liverpool-based UK investors River Capital through its EIS growth fund, fund:AI.
It brings Germany born Autonomo’s total funds raised to ca. £3.8 million, with previous investment coming from a number of parties, including members of The Edeka Group, Germany’s largest supermarket corporation and angel investment from current and former directors at Aldi, Delivery Hero, Metro, Carrefour, Apple and Brookstreet Equity Partners of Mayfair.
The cash will be used to bring Autonomo’s computer vision powered checkout solutions to the UK, after going live in Germany in petrol stations, convenience and grab-and-go stores.
15. Treet
Resale technology specialist Treet has closed a $10 million Series A funding round.
In a LinkedIn post, Jake Disraeli, Co-Founder and CEO at Treet, said: “This funding is a testament to the tireless work our team has put in over the past three years to live up to our mission of ensuring every item lives its longest life – we do this by empowering brands to effortlessly launch their own profitable resale programmes.”
The company powers resale for more than 150 brands, including Girlfriend Collective, Ministry of Supply and Galia Lahav.
The round was led by Two Sigma Ventures with participation from previous lead investors: First Round Capital, Bling Capital, and Techstars.
16. Bug Sur AI
Big Sur AI, an AI platform for e-commerce, has announced a $6.9 million seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and including participation from Capital F and several angel investors.
This comes as part of the launch of the company’s flagship product, an AI Sales Agent, which promises an enhanced product discovery and assisted experience to online shoppers at merchant websites.
“Big Sur AI's dedication to helping merchants cut through the noise and build lasting relationships with their customers aligns perfectly with our vision at Lightspeed,” says Sydney Sykes, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners.
“We believe retailers will need a personalised approach to customer engagement that persists outside of the retail store. Big Sur AI is making that kind of customer relationship automatic.”
Continue reading…