$72m for CPG Supply Chain Data Firm Crisp

Retail insights and analytics company Crisp has closed a $72m Series B round of equity funding, for use in developing ad launching new features and functionality for CPG clients in its Collaborative Commerce platform; building new partnerships; and recruiting new staff.

Based in Bentonville, Arkansas, the firm connects and integrates more than 40 retail data sources - including shared POS and supply chain data - to provide brands, retailers and distributors with real-time insights and trend information. This is used to improve the efficiency of supply, reduce waste, set prices, manage inventory, create a more sustainable food value chain and raise profitability. Crisp says in just the last twelve months it has grown its client base tenfold to around 6,000, including more than 80 of the top 100 CPG brands. Its products include UNFI Insights, a platform giving manufacturers the latest sales, inventory and deduction data as products move through distribution to retail channels - dramatically reducing the volume of food at risk for spoilage. The company says its vision is to create a zero-waste supply chain.

The investment includes $17m from new strategic investors including Wellington Management, Toshiba Corporation, DNX, Cox and Prologis, and adds to $25m raised in earlier rounds. In May of this year Crisp bought two other supply chain data firms, SetSight and Lumidata.

Company founder and CEO Are Traasdahl says the round 'signals the market's growing recognition of the need for supply chain solutions that reduce waste and facilitate collaboration at scale'. He comments: 'As the impacts of climate change accelerate, investors are looking to fund sustainability solutions that deliver tangible economic returns. Crisp is positioned to lead the CPG industry in these efforts'.

Web site: www.gocrisp.com .