Including Patchworks and Dexory: six retail technology funding rounds you need to know about

RTIH rounds up six retail systems ventures who have recently secured significant investments in their businesses, including Returnalyze, Starship Technologies, Unfabled, and Ploy.

1. Returnalyze

Returnalyze, an AI powered returns prevention platform, has closed a $6 million Series A1 round led by Fintop Capital.  Blu Ventures, Osage Venture Partners and Data Point Capital also participated in the round.

This will support hiring, including expansion of the engineering and data science teams to accelerate AI powered features and support retailers from initial purchase through to post-return customer engagement.

Also, continued build out of Returnalyze's portfolio of APIs and partnerships with platforms like Shopify, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and logistics providers

The company works with the likes of J.Crew, Abercrombie & Fitch, Wolverine, and Perry Ellis.

Rick Cramer, CEO at Returnalyze, says: “Our platform transforms returns from a cost centre into a strategic advantage by delivering root cause analysis, predictive insights, industry benchmarking and automated recommendations across product development, inventory management, e-commerce and customer experience.”

“By enabling new use cases around customer retention and operational efficiency, including predictive return scoring and automated inventory adjustments based on return patterns detected within hours, retailers can add tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars to their bottom line, while simultaneously enhancing the customer experience.”

2. Unfabled

Unfabled, a women's health specialist which was founded in 2021 by former Unilever executive Hannah Samano, has secured a $1.7 million funding round, along with an expansion into 737 Boots UK stores nationwide, topping up the total of seed funding raised to $3.9 million.

Among the new investors is Arāya Ventures, founded by Managing Partner Rupa Popat and backed by British Business Investments (BBI). This is BBI’s first ever commitment to a solo GP. Alongside this, previous investors include Morgan Stanley, Exceptional Ventures, Atomico Angels, and angel groups out of Google and MIT.

Investment into Unfabled has been made from their Arāya Super Angel Fund, a community powered model. 67% of investments into Unfabled have come from female investors, compared to an industry average where just 14% of angel investors are women and only 15% of senior VC roles are held by women.

Samano says: “Women’s health has been sidelined for far too long. We’ve shown that when you truly listen to women, you don’t just create better products - you create a movement. Boots expanding our footprint by over 1000% proves that women’s health is no longer niche. We’re proud to be building a brand, a community, and a category that retailers and investors can no longer ignore.”

3. Patchworks

Patchworks has closed a £5 million funding round led by Gresham House Ventures, its main investor, with growth lending from Palatine Growth Credit.

Bringing the total funding to date to £16.3 million, this will be invested in expanding sales and marketing to reach more enterprise retailers and brands, driving growth in the North American market, building on early traction in the region, and investing in product development, including new AI features.

The company helps retailers integrate systems across e-commerce, ERP, PoS, PIM, CRM, CDP and fulfilment, with the aim of avoiding common issues like overselling, delayed orders, and inefficient manual data entry.

Jim Herbert, CEO at Patchworks, says: “This follow on investment is a huge vote of confidence in our platform and our strategy. Retailers and brands need flexible, future-proof infrastructure to stay competitive, and Patchworks gives them the power and speed they need.”

“We’re doubling down on the US market, scaling our partner ecosystem, and continuing to enhance the platform with AI and other innovations so our customers can connect, adapt and grow faster.”

4. Ploy

UK cybersecurity startup Ploy has raised £2.5 million in a funding round led by Osney Capital, with participation from Superseed, Tiny.vc and Rule30.

This is alongside angels including Johnathan Scudder (co-founder of ForgeRock), Alastair Paterson and James Chappell (co-founders of Digital Shadows), Mark Ryan (VP of Product Management at ZScaler), Jonathan Tom (VP of GTM Enablement at Rapid7), Tony Pepper and Neil Larkins (co-founders of Egress) and Charles Delingpole ((co-founder of ComplyAdvantage, MarketFinance, and The Student Room).

“Identity sprawl has become a significant issue for organisations of all shapes and sizes, but particularly those with modern technology stacks; which often comprise hundreds, or even thousands, of SaaS applications” says Joshua Walter, Partner at Osney Capital, who will join Ploy's board.

“This breadth causes fragmented and distributed access and ownership of identity, without unified visibility or control, and is typically enabled using role-base access controls. Ploy’s just-in-time approach to access, making all access temporary by default, and identifying risks centrally in real-time, is becoming the only approach that scales with modern threats, ways of working and technology stacks.”

Ploy's customer base includes companies like Payfit, Not On The High Street, Welcome to the Jungle, ComplyAdvantage, Liberis, and Times Higher Education.

5. Dexory

Dexory, a provider of real-time warehouse intelligence, visibility and autonomous solutions, has raised $165 million, building on the company’s Series B in 2024.

Eurazeo, through its Growth team, led the $100 million Series C round, with participation from LTS Growth and Endeavor Catalyst, alongside existing backers DTCP, Atomico, Lakestar, Elaia, Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and others. In addition, Bootstrap Europe expanded the existing growth debt facility. 

Since its Series B, Dexory has expanded the reach of its AI enabled data intelligence platform, DexoryView, across Europe, North America, and APAC, and established its North American headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. Today, the platform is used by logistics specialists such as GXO, Maersk and DHL; manufacturers including Stellantis and GE Appliances; and by customers across pharmaceuticals, retail and e-commerce. 

The new funding will accelerate Dexory’s product roadmap and expand access to its technology, with the aim of removing key bottlenecks in warehouse transformation.

“This new round allows us to bring forward transformational capabilities that our customers are asking for,” says Andrei Danescu, CEO and Co-Founder at Dexory. “By combining full stack engineering with zero customer complexity, we are building advanced agentic systems powered by the industry’s richest set of real-world logistics data. This will help warehouses and supply chains shift from systems of record to true systems of action.”

6. Starship Technologies

Autonomous delivery specialist, Starship Technologies, reports the completion of a $50 million funding round led by Plural.

The company, founded by Skype co-founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis, has now raised more than $280 million in total funding as it looks to replicate its progress in European cities and US university campuses across American urban markets.

“Delivery robotics is the next wave of urban logistics, shaping a once-in-a-generation shift in how goods move through cities,” says Heinla. “We own European urban markets, we own US campuses. Now it’s time to replicate this proven success in American cities. Millions of US consumers will soon experience sub-30-minute delivery by Starship robots  as the new standard.”