Crisp, the leading AI platform for retail data, announced the close of a Series B1 round of $26M led by Paine Schwartz Partners. Unlike horizontal AI, which serves more general functions such as chatbots, the new funding for Crisp is a recognition of the premium value that verticalized AI delivers for industry-specific tasks, such as automatically reducing out-of-stocks, maximizing e-commerce revenue, and optimizing assortment and space planning. Additional investors in the equity round include Blue Cloud Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Cox, DNX, Prologis and Wellington Management. 

Paine Schwartz is the largest private equity firm dedicated to sustainable food chain investing.  

“Crisp is an example of a company laser-focused on creating smarter data and AI-driven systems that power the global food chain,” said Kevin Schwartz, CEO and Managing Partner, Paine Schwartz Partners. “They have proven repeatedly that they have the ability to scale and build the solutions that are needed to address the toughest challenges within the global food supply chain.” 

The new funding will support the company’s aggressive growth efforts, including expanding value to CPG and retail channels through new platform features and functionality, expansion of new data partnerships, investment in the Crisp AI Agent flagship product, and growing through strategic hires globally. 

“Investors are looking to support companies that are demonstrating measurable change through advanced technology,” said Are Traasdahl, founder and CEO of Crisp. “Paine Schwartz recognizes that Crisp represents a compelling opportunity to invest in a scaling, high-ROI vertical AI data platform operating at the intersection of commerce, supply chain, and sustainability.” 

Crisp recently launched its AI Agent Studio, the retail industry’s first purpose-built AI agent platform. AI Agent Studio orchestrates the delivery of supply chain insights and prompts actions that improve retail performance in real time. This orchestration is enabled by Crisp’s deep retail data foundation, which cleanses, models and interprets diverse data sets across commerce partners. 

“FirstMark has been an investor in Crisp from the beginning because we believe in their technology, their team, and their mission,” said Rick Heitzmann, FirstMark Capital founder and partner. “Are and his team have identified the most pressing business challenges faced by every CPG brand and their retail partners. Crisp leverages an intelligent, connected data strategy supported by the latest AI and automation tools. As a vertical AI solution that touches production, inventory, logistics, pricing, marketing and more, Crisp is an expert in AI and retail data, and they are well-positioned to lead the market.” 

Existing lenders, JPMorgan and Silver Lake Waterman remain important capital partners supporting Crisp’s accelerated growth strategy. Total funding now stands at $127M raised since Crisp’s inception in 2017.