Advise, the data, analytics and AI platform provider helping retail manufacturers and brand owners to unlock revenues and margin growth, has announced that it has raised €1.55M in funding as it continues its aggressive international growth. Following a year of 250% growth in revenue, the funding will be used to support the company’s global expansion plans, which will see Advise double its headcount in the next 12 to 18 months.
Despite a turbulent few years – exacerbated by Brexit, COVID-19 and geopolitical uncertainty –the global consumer goods market has continued to grow year-on-year, helped by a focus on digital transformation to meet changing market needs.
Advise’s growth has been inspired by this movement as manufacturers seek data-driven solutions for their operations, which can lead to margin growth and better, data-driven pricing strategies with retailers. These can include new product development, promotional and non-promotional pricing, and discounts and offers.
Advise, the trading name for RecommenderX, was founded by Dr Kevin McCarthy and John Phelan. The company has developed an AI-powered SaaS platform that harmonises sales, inventory and customer data from multiple sources – making it the go-to platform for easily accessible, accurate data analytics. In doing so, it provides manufacturers and brand owners – such as Pilgrims Europe, Dr Oetker (Ireland) and Britvic – with the actionable insights needed to grow their market share and plan mutually beneficial pricing strategies for retailers and consumers. It also gives manufacturers the ability to compare product performance across retailers and benchmark themselves against competitors – therefore ensuring they are making the best possible returns.
Advise’s funding round was led by Business Venture Partners (BVP) through their EIIS fund and supported by existing investors, including ACT Venture Capital, Elkstone, Enterprise Ireland, and a group of private investors. The investment will help Advise to meet, and capitalise on, the rise in demand for its platform by increasing its presence in Ireland, the UK and the US.
Maintaining its focus on an intuitive user experience and speed to insights, the company will pursue its expansion plan with a greater focus on sales and marketing in each location, along with a larger development team. The new roles, which will be located in all three markets, will be in the areas of sales, engineering and data science.
Dr Kevin McCarthy, CEO and co-founder, Advise, said: “For decades, retailers have been leveraging their data to determine product pricing strategies, while manufacturers have lacked the insights to have any meaningful influence. With pressure on retailers to consistently drive down consumer costs – especially now amidst the ongoing cost-of-living crisis – this can leave manufacturers with no bargaining chips and very low margins.
“Our easy-to-use AI platform democratises and simplifies the data analytics process and will drive greater competition in retail. It addresses a previously unmet need, and the new funding reflects a market confidence in this solution. The investment, and our partnerships with our investors, will be critical in bringing Advise to the next stage of our journey.”
Andrew McGreal, Investment Director, Business Venture Partners (BVP), said: “Retailers and their manufacturers operate in a traditional industry, but with a very complex data ecosystem. Historically, this combination made data analytics and the ability to unearth actionable insights at pace a challenge. The Advise platform, built specifically for this purpose and industry, enables better decisions and lightning speed to reveal real insights at a low cost of ownership. It’s a game changer for the industry. We have been hugely impressed by the team in Advise and what they have built so far and are thrilled to be supporting their plans for expansion.”
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