Crisp Raises $50M in Series B Extension

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Crisp has 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 VenturesFirstMark CapitalSpring 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. 

Crisp previously raised a total of $60M in equity, bringing the total equity raised to $80M. The new funding will support the company’s aggressive growth efforts building on its recent acquisition of Atlas Technology Group, product development, and expansion into new markets and additional acquisitions.

Since its inception in 2017, Crisp has evolved its platform to provide brands and distributors with the latest store and shelf-level data from leading retailers. This data provides visibility into actual inventory and sales down to the exact location of every item. These insights enable brands and retailers to optimize the manufacturing, distribution, merchandising and marketing of CPG products through every retail channel. Brands are better able to forecast demand, maintain stock levels, avoid overstocks and markdowns, and match marketing spend to the local regions with the best sales potential.

“FirstMark is committed to accelerating top-tier talent and has been a partner for Crisp from its inception,” said Rick Heitzmann, FirstMark Capital founder and partner. “The portfolio of companies now on the Crisp platform is a testament to the mission-critical insights they deliver and the quality of their technology is light-years ahead of what was previously available in the market.”

More than 700 CPG brands such as Mars, Hormel, Kraft Heinz, and Sanofi leverage the Crisp platform to strengthen relationships with retail partners by better supporting sales and inventory management across all channels. Crisp’s recent acquisition of Atlas Technology Group based in Bentonville, home of Walmart’s headquarters, added 100 large CPG enterprise customers to Crisp’s cloud-based platform.

“We invest in the types of technologies that are transforming industries. Crisp’s platform revolutionizes the way CPG brands approach their entire business, allowing them to meet real-time, localized demand across their entire network of retail partners,” said Rami Rahal, co-founder and managing partner at Blue Cloud Ventures. “Beyond this, Crisp enables CPG brands to dial in complex merchandising and marketing to focus spend where the return is most supportive of the business.”

“Our strong growth is a testament to the measurable and significant value Crisp provides. We solve real problems and help CPG brands strengthen sales, marketing, and their relationships with retailers,” said Are Traasdahl, founder and CEO of Crisp. “Accessing all data within a single platform is empowering brands to implement a collaborative commerce approach, where advanced analysis is improving forecasting, pricing strategies, inventory management, and expansion plans. We appreciate the significant support of Blue Cloud Ventures, Spring Capital, FirstMark and 3L in helping Crisp enhance our platform and meet the evolving needs of brands.”

About Crisp

Crisp, the market leader in Collaborative Commerce, leverages the power of the cloud to connect and normalize 40+ retail data sources to provide real-time insights and trends. Hundreds of brands, retailers, and distributors use Crisp to manage supply more efficiently, reduce waste and skyrocket profitability. Learn more at www.gocrisp.com.

About Blue Cloud Ventures

Blue Cloud Ventures (BCV) is a software-focused growth stage venture capital fund firm headquartered in New York City. The fund targets investments in leading business applications, infrastructure and open-source software companies. Some of BCV’s past and present portfolio companies include Arctic Wolf Networks, Clari, Cloudbees, Druva, Go1, Iterable, NGINX, Pax8, Weave and Wrike.

About FirstMark

FirstMark is an early-stage venture capital firm based in New York City. Our mission is to partner with entrepreneurs who are focused on solving meaningful problems. We have built an engaged community among the teams in our network to spread ideas and opportunities. We are privileged to work alongside the founders of businesses like Pinterest, Shopify, Airbnb, Discord, Riot Games, and DraftKings. Visit us in New York City or online at www.firstmark.com and @FirstMarkCap on Twitter.

About Spring Capital

Spring Capital partners with businesses to create an everlasting impact on the world. Strategically focused on industries ripe for digitization, backing companies that have the environment’s back, society’s back, or both. Learn more at www.springcapital.com

About 3L

3L is a private equity firm that invests in emerging growth companies. The firm backs innovative founders and management teams across the Commerce, Enterprise Software and Tech-enabled Services landscapes, with a particular emphasis on opportunities where M&A and creative financing strategies can augment strong organic growth. 3L provides management teams with the capital, perspective, and relationships needed to become category leaders. The firm is based in Los Angeles and New York City. Learn more at www.3lcap.com

About Triplepoint

TriplePoint Capital is a leading global specialty finance company with unsurpassed capacity to transact leases and loans with leading high-growth companies throughout their lifespan. With unparalleled levels of creativity, flexibility, and customer service, TriplePoint Capital is the only provider equipped to meet the needs of high-growth companies at every stage of their development. Learn more at https://www.triplepointcapital.com