Askuity Closes Seed Funding Round of $1.8 Million from dunnhumby & MaRS IAF

TORONTO, May 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Askuity Inc. (http://www.askuity.com) today announces the closing of its $1.8 million seed round funding. The company plans to use the funding to accelerate penetration into retail markets with its intelligent cross-retailer analytics platform, which connects retailers and product vendors to enable better collaboration, planning and overall retail execution.

Seed round investors include dunnhumby Ventures (http://dunnhumby.com/us/ventures), the venture investing arm of dunnhumby, the world's leading customer science company, MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF) (http://www.marsdd.com/) and a group of angel investors.   

"Askuity is transforming the way forward-thinking retailers collaborate with their product vendors to improve their joint business," remarked Dave Balter, Global Head of Investments for dunnhumby and head of dunnhumby Ventures.  "dunnhumby Ventures is focused on partnering with and accelerating companies that are truly at the forefront of re-inventing retail.  Askuity is enabling retailers and vendors to harness the power of big data and translate it into an improved customer shopping experience."

Askuity is a retail analytics platform that gives both retailers and vendors real-time visibility into what's occurring at store level in order to drive improved business outcomes.  The company is bringing cloud big data analytics and mobile technology to a realm that is currently characterized by a lack of information, manual workarounds and missed opportunities.

"We knew when we started Askuity that there was a big market need for what we're doing and our early customer traction has proven this," commented Eric Green, CEO and co-founder of Askuity. "We're thrilled to add these great investors to our team as we pursue our mission of transforming how retailers and vendors manage their joint business.  dunnhumby brings us a wealth of retail analytics expertise as well as a network of leading retailers and product manufacturers who would benefit from Askuity.  And MaRS IAF has backed some great technology success stories – we're honored to be a part of their impressive portfolio."

Instead of retailers and vendors struggling with cumbersome spreadsheets and complicated custom systems, Askuity lets users focus on driving business results, even when they're in-store on their smartphones or tablets.  The platform uses store and product level sell-through, pricing and inventory data to provide powerful sales, marketing and supply chain analytics. This data helps retailers and vendors improve the customer experience by optimizing their merchandising and promotions, as well as improving on-shelf availability and reducing frustrating out-of-stock situations.

About Askuity

Askuity is a cross-retailer big data analytics platform that connects retailers and product manufacturers with insight and information, enabling better collaboration, planning and retail execution.  Accessible in the cloud from any device, at any time, Askuity combines automated data sharing with easy-to-use, powerful analytics tools and mobile technology to drive better sales, marketing and supply chain outcomes.  Askuity – See What's in Store. For more information, please visit http://www.askuity.com.

About dunnhumby Ventures

dunnhumby Ventures is a seed-stage venture fund focusing on retail technology, investing in and accelerating startups that embrace data for innovations along the customer's path to purchase.  Backed by the global leader in customer science, with a database of shopping behavior for more than 400 million households worldwide, dunnhumby Ventures is looking to break all the rules and shape the future of retail.

About MaRS IAF

The Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF) provides seed funding to qualified emerging companies in Ontario. As a critical component of the Ontario Network of Excellence (ONE), the IAF supports the launch and development of innovative companies in Ontario's priority sectors of advanced materials and manufacturing, information technology, cleantech and life sciences.

SOURCE Askuity