While both CPG companies and their retail partners have come to understand the importance of data, there’s still a gap between the number of brands in the CPG space that have a complete picture of their data inventory and the number of retailers with the same capability with retailers tending to be very data rich but insight poor.  Bridging this gap and fostering collaboration leads to better outcomes for both.  Crisp is a data insights and connectivity platform that links CPG brands and distributors with real-time POS and inventory data from 40+ leading retailers.  Instead of treating retail data like a walled garden, the platform allows brands and retailers to take a collaborative approach to drive sales, improve marketing efforts, allow for more accurate forecasting, optimized pricing and inventory management, and reduced waste.  Crisp currently works with 700 prominent retail brands including Mars, Hormel, Kraft Heinz, Sanofi, and Carbone providing them with first-party data from retailers like Target, Whole Foods, Walgreens, and Amazon.

AlleyWatch caught up with Crisp CEO and Founder Are Traasdahl to learn more about the inspiration for the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, which brings the total equity funding raised to $80M, and much, much more…

Who were your investors and how much did you raise?

Crisp raised a total of $50M in new capital through a $20M Series B extension round and up to $30M in debt financing. Existing investors including Blue Cloud Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Spring Capital, and 3L participated in the equity round. TriplePoint Capital LLC provided debt to refinance existing senior debt and to fund both operating activities and continued acquisitions.

Tell us about the product or service that Crisp offers.

Crisp connects CPGs to real-time POS and inventory data from 40+ retailers and distributors, delivering store-level actionable insights and analytics through BI tools, cloud platforms, interactive dashboards, and more. Nearly 1,000 CPGs rely on Crisp’s retail data platform for actionable sales and supply chain insights to grow sales and streamline operations. Crisp’s mission is to reduce waste across the supply chain while giving brands and retailers the daily data and insights they need to grow their business.

What inspired the start of Crisp?

I have been founding and building companies for over 20 years. Before Crisp I founded Tapad, which helped lead the programmatic transformation in the advertising industry. In 2016, I was fortunate to sell Tapad and spend a year traveling the world with my family, visiting over 30 countries. During our travels, I witnessed first-hand the staggering imbalance of the food system. After hundreds of hours of research and meetings with experts in the industry, I came to the realization that the root cause of waste and inefficiency in the supply chain is slow-moving, inaccurate data. It became clear that the retail industry was ripe for the same programmatic transformation that we had helped lead in the advertising industry at Tapad. And that’s when we founded Crisp.

How is Crisp different?

While there are other point solutions in the market that focus on a particular retailer or part of the supply chain, Crisp is the only agnostic platform that ingests, normalizes, analyzes and distributes data regardless of source or destination. With a collaborative commerce approach, the retail industry can make zero-waste supply chains a reality. When data is shared seamlessly between retailers, suppliers, and distributors, all parties can collaborate to efficiently meet demand, reduce waste, and grow profitably.

What market does Crisp target and how big is it?

Our target markets are CPG brands and their retail partners. We estimate the market to be $3B-$5B.

What’s your business model?

Crisp is a SaaS business. We charge based on PODs (points of distribution) that equal the average number of monthly products (SKUs) multiplied by the number of stores.

How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown?

We are continuing to invest in our product and go-to-market and will continue to prudently manage our spend.

What was the funding process like?

We have a very supportive group of existing investors from our Series A and B raise that believe in the long-term opportunity of Crisp. Through that group, we saw participation across the board in our Series B extension, reflecting their belief in the company.

What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?

The capital raising market is certainly different from what it was in 2021-2. However, our investors were reassured by the progress we have made and the tangible ROI our customers are experiencing from the platform.

What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?

• We have successfully made a strong move up-market with a focus on the largest CPGs/enterprise brands. We have 700 brands on the platform, including some of the largest brands in the world including Hormel, Kraft Heinz, and Sanofi.
• We have also experienced continued success offering our product to retailer and distributor partners who can now easily share their data with their suppliers. 

What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?

• We continue to invest in our platform and will be launching our fully redesigned reporting and analytics platform.
• We have fully integrated the technology and teams from our acquisition of Atlas. Now we will focus on our growth in Northwest Arkansas, home to Walmart and their thousands of suppliers.

What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?

This is a fundraising market with higher expectations than previous periods. Investors need to see tangible results that indicate the company is performing relative to the stage of the company.

What’s your favorite winter destination in and around the city?

I’d have to say Japan Village in Brooklyn.

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• Source: https://www.alleywatch.com/2024/02/crisp-retail-data-brands-connectivity-platform-sales-optimization-are-traasdahl/