FirstMark leads $12M Funding Round for expansion of Crisp’s Data Platform

As supply chains struggle through the pandemic to produce, ship and stock critical food products, companies are racing to deploy technology that can leverage big data, create visibility across partners, and better match supply with demand. To maximize on the market opportunity, Crisp announced today, as reported in TechCrunch, the close of our $12M Series A round of funding led by FirstMark Capital, with participation from investors including Spring Capital and Swell Partners. We appreciate the significant support of FirstMark who believe in the critical need to drive innovation in the food industry. This investment allows us to accelerate the value proposition we bring to our customers.

With rising customer demand and increasing market opportunities, we plan to use the funding to expand our offering and to build the first truly open data platform connecting thousands of companies in the food industry. 

Optimizing Food Supply Chains to Reduce Waste and Maximize Profitability

We have all walked into a grocery store and seen empty shelves, while food is being wasted at alarming levels. This paradox is the result of thousands of food companies being dependent on outdated, siloed infrastructure. The recent pandemic has only accelerated the need for the industry to modernize in a way that is open, flexible and collaborative. Crisp transforms the value chain by providing an open data flow to solve critical problems such as out-of-stock, shrink, on-shelf optimization, and adaptation to changes in consumer demand.  

To facilitate collaboration throughout the supply chain, Crisp is working with food companies including suppliers, producers, brokers, distributors and retailers to efficiently gather and verify data, integrate hundreds of disparate data sources, break down silos, analyze data, and provide recommended actions that result in less waste and more profit.

The Crisp Data Platform connects to data sources such as retailer and distributor portals. Crisp ingests this critical sales data, standardizes it and delivers critical insights about sales, inventory levels, products, locations, and more. 

Rapid Customer Growth

Crisp has experienced rapid growth within top food categories including dairy, meat and poultry, CPG and beverage, since publicly launching its solution in September 2019 as more businesses recognize the need for an efficient, easy-to-use, low cost technology to improve their operations. Current customers include brands with revenue ranging from $15M to $8B, such as Gilbert’s Craft Sausages, Brazi Bites, Nounós Creamery, Rowdy Bars, Good Culture and REMA.

“Crisp saves us a lot of time on a monthly basis,” said Kelli Lee, Founder of Rowdy Bars, a prebiotic energy bar company. “If we had to do this manually, that could be 20-40 hours a month, inputting the data. With Crisp, it takes seconds.”

Investing in People

Beyond the significant financial investment, we appreciate the investment by FirstMark in our team as we build out our product and go to market strategies. Having worked closely with Rick Heitzmann and the team on previous endeavors, the value of such support cannot be overstated. The value they bring to us will be directly translated into the value we bring to our customers and solving one of the world’s most pressing challenges.