Including Zepto, Warehow, and SafetyCulture: 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 Flex, Fast, PastPay, and NOQ Group.

1. Zepto

Indian online grocery delivery app, Zepto, has secured $340 million in a follow-on financing round, placing the company at a $5 billion in valuation following its previous fundraise in June.

General Catalyst led the round, with Dragon Fund, and Epiq Capital joining as new investors. Existing backers such as StepStone, Lightspeed, DST, and Contrary also increased their stakes.

Zepto has now raised more than $1 billion in just two months.

“The rationale behind this follow-on financing was twofold,” says Aadit Palicha, Co-founder and CEO at Zepto, which he launched in 2021 alongside fellow Stanford University dropout Kaivalya Vohra.

“First, the opportunity to bring onboard a lead investor of  Neeraj Arora’s calibre from General Catalyst was one we couldn't pass on. Second, strengthening our balance sheet is a strategic move, particularly as the company continues to deliver robust growth and operating leverage.”

“While these recent financings reflect strong confidence in Zepto’s performance to date, we recognise there is still a lot of execution ahead of us to fulfil our ambition of building a world class internet company out of India. At Zepto, we genuinely feel we are just at the beginning of our journey.”

2. Warehow

Warehow, an e-commerce fulfilment company catering to fashion and homeware retailers, has raised £2.1 million in a Series A funding round led by the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II through its appointed fund manager Mercia Ventures, with support from existing investor MENA Moonshots.

Warehow enables retailers to sell on multiple marketplaces such as eBay, Very, Next and John Lewis through one fulfilment service.

Items are picked and packed at its two warehouses near Worksop and shipped by third-party couriers. Warehow also manages returns processing.

The company was founded in 2021 by Laurence Guy, Al Gerrie and Pete Harris as a spin-out from Guy’s e-commerce business We Are Pentagon Group. Warehow employs 70 staff and has partnerships with brands such as River Island, Hoover, True Religion, and Puma.  

The latest investment, which brings the total raised to over £3.75 million, will enable it to further develop its technology, create additional storage capacity in one of its existing warehouses and step up its sales and marketing activities.

3. Flex

Flex, which offers a way for direct-to-consumer health and wellness brands to begin accepting HSA and FSA payments online, has raised a $3.2 million seed round from Y Combinator, SV Angel, Precursor, Liquid 2 Ventures and others.

Flex says it will use the funding to accelerate product development and sales and marketing, and to capitalise on interest from brands in capturing more of the $150 billion in potential annual HSA/FSA spending.

“We were impressed by the strength and experience of the Flex team, whose deep FinTech expertise and proven execution capabilities gave us great confidence in their ability to deliver on their ambitious vision to transform the landscape of health-related spending,” says Beth Turner, Managing Partner at SV Angel.

Charles Hudson, Managing Partner and Founder, Precursor Ventures, says: “Flex is closing an important and large gap in the payments ecosystem - one that will help brands and consumers leverage HSA and FSA dollars more efficiently.”

Flex customers include KindredBravely, BedJet and Lumen.

4. Fastn

Fastn has announced a $2.6 million seed funding round led by LiveOak Ventures and Antler.

Leveraging AI, the startup aims to simplify the process of composing and connecting modular components, focusing on reusability, adaptability, and observability.

Instead of custom building applications from scratch, businesses can now rapidly compose and connect existing solutions, break down silos, and streamline their technology stacks.

“Each era of application architecture has required a new platform to integrate between components,” says Creighton Hicks, Partner at LiveOak Ventures.

“Composable – or headless – architecture is rapidly gaining mindshare, yet enterprises struggle to adopt it and rely on custom code to connect components. Fastn is uniquely positioned to be this new platform, enabling enterprises to easily adopt composable architecture.” 

Founded in March 2023, the company launched its proof-of-concept a few months later and began to acquire early adopter beta users. “Fastn is redefining application development for the modern enterprise,” says Khalid Muaydh, Founder and CEO at Fastn.

“Our platform transforms the way businesses create and integrate composable applications, offering a flexible and efficient approach. We're leading the charge in composable architecture, driving the future of enterprise software.”

5. SafetyCulture

SafetyCulture reports an $AU165 million funding round, giving it a valuation of $AU2.5 billion. This was led by Airtree Ventures and is the largest initial investment the venture capital firm has made. 

SafetyCulture’s Founder and CEO, Luke Anear, says: “We are excited about the opportunities the round creates for us to accelerate our growth and help even more customers.”

“It’s a tough environment to be raising in, but we’re proud of the results the business is delivering and pleased that we can continue to create regular liquidity events for early investors and long-term employees.”

The funding round follows the launch of a workplace operations platform in October 2023, which introduced new capabilities in training, asset management, sensors and IoT functionality.

6. PastPay

PastPay, a provider of B2B payment solutions, has announced a €12 million Series A funding round led by Platina Capital.

Currently, PastPay operates in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), including Italy, Germany, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Romania, and Hungary, with expansion plans to other EU markets.

The funding round also includes participation from several financial institutions, including MBH Bank, Advance Global Capital, Quantic Financial Solutions, STRT and BNL Start Partners, as well as a number of private investors, such as Jared Schrieber and Mark Ransford.

PastPay will utilise the cash to expand its current offerings.

Benjamin Berényi, Co-Founder and CEO, comments:: “B2B commerce is becoming an increasingly digitised market, and the demand for flexible payment options is matching the need for innovative solutions.”

“This funding shows that investors are keen to leverage this demand and lead in a market that is still in its early stages but with the promise of robust growth and profitability.”

“For this to happen we need to invest further in the product side and with the growing threat of AI enhanced cybercrime, strengthen our risk infrastructure.”

7. NOQ Group

NOQ Group, a software provider in the events sector, reports the closure of a £3.4 million funding round, bringing the company’s total funding to £5.1 million.

NOQ Group says that it is redefining how festivals and events manage multiple vendors, payments, and data.

Its platform integrates into the event ecosystem, offering features like real-time data intelligence, vouchers, loyalty programmes, multi-network payment coverage, and offline transaction capabilities.

From mobile ordering via progressive web apps to kitchen display systems (KDS) and split revenue functionalities, NOQ’s suite aims to address the complex needs of modern event organisers.

“Securing this funding is a significant milestone in our journey to create the most efficient and seamless PoS and payment solution for multi-vendor events," says Param Kanabar, CEO at NOQ Group.

"We’re committed to equipping event organisers with powerful tools that streamline operations and maximise revenue.”