Retail intelligence firm Datavations bags $17 million in Series A funding round led by Forestay Capital

Datavations, a New York-based data and AI powered intelligence provider for the building materials and home improvement industries, has closed a Series A funding round, securing $17 million in new equity capital.

This was led by Forestay Capital, with participation from Morpheus Ventures, as well as existing investors Sage Venture Partners, Nevcaut Ventures, and board member Jay Steinfeld. Additional backers include Rusty Reed, former CFO of Procore Technologies, and Travis May, founder of LiveRamp and Datavant. The investment brings Datavations’ total funding to date to $27 million.

The Series A round will enable the company to accelerate growth across all fronts by scaling its team and advancing product development. The cash will also support expansion across North America and help deepen relationships with clients.

Its platform, powered by advanced machine learning and AI, provides manufacturers with a data driven approach to better serve customers and grow their relationships with key accounts. By simplifying massive datasets into actionable business insights, it says it helps businesses make decisions to optimise pricing, inventory, and product assortment.

“We’re at a defining moment in the evolution of data use within the building materials industry,” says Philip Odelfelt, CEO at Datavations. “Until now, teams have been forced to operate with lagging indicators, gut feel, and fragmented data. Datavations is changing that - helping sales, supply chain, and pricing teams anticipate demand, optimise performance, and make confident decisions faster.”

“We have a team of entrepreneurial A players with deep quantitative abilities serving the market. We’re delighted to partner with Forestay and Morpheus, and we are grateful to our existing investors for their continued support of our vision.”

"Datavations is tackling a long standing blind spot in the building materials industry,” says Labinot Brahimi, Vice President at Forestay Capital. “Its ability to simplify complex data challenges and drive measurable impact for manufacturers and retailers is impressive. We're thrilled to support their journey as they scale across North America."

Jay Steinfeld, Founder of Blinds.com and Datavations Board Member & Investor, comments: “This team has built something truly exceptional. Datavations doesn’t just provide information - it is reshaping decision-making through intelligence.”

RTIH AI in Retail Awards

RTIH, organiser of the industry leading RTIH Innovation Awards, proudly brings you the first edition of the RTIH AI in Retail Awards, which is now open for entries. 

As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.

With 2025 set to be the year when AI and especially gen AI shake off the ‘heavily hyped’ tag and become embedded in retail business processes, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees.

Our 2025 winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.

Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Wednesday, 3rd September.