Earlier this month RetailNext, a global provider of retail analytics solutions with Russian connections, secured $125 million in growth funding. The company intends to use the new funding to strengthen its presence in North America, Europe and Asia, pursue relevant strategic acquisitions, and grow in new markets.
RetailNext’s founder Alexei Agratchev exemplifies a generation of Russian-born tech entrepreneurs who built a successful career in California. His company operates R&D facilities in Nizhny Novgorod, a major Russian city located 400 km east of Moscow.“In-store retail analytics is a massive market estimated at over $30 billion, which lacks enterprise grade solutions that support omni-channel platforms. RetailNext has emerged as the clear leader in the in-store analytics sector due to its ability to bridge online and offline data to leverage additional in-store data — analogous to the online data provided by Google Analytics, — driving incremental value for retailers,” commented Roman Simonov, Managing Director of Siguler Guff.
A New York-headquartered global private equity investment firm, Siguler Guff contributed an undisclosed amount to RetailNext’s round along with existing investors. These include Activant Capital Group, which led the round, as well as August Capital, StarVest Partners, Nokia Growth Partners, Commerce Ventures, American Express, Pereg Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures. The latest deal brought the total capital secured by RetailNext to $184 million.
Since the mid-1990s Siguler Guff has raised and managed several private equity funds totaling over $1,3 billion. Among them is Russia Partners Technology Fund, which has made four local investments (KupiVIP, Invitro, Banki.ru and Maximum Education).
In late 2014, the fund exited its investment in Slice, a Palo Alto-based e-commerce analytical app.
In addition, Siguler Guff has invested in global technology companies including NYSE-listed EPAM Systems, GlobalLogic, Parallels, NGINX, Viagogo, RethinkDB, Mirantis and RetailNext. The firm has also invested in Moscow-based data centers Stack Group and DataSpace Partners.
