Swedish startup Formulate raises €3.7 million to help European retail businesses conduct smart sales

Formulate, a Stockholm-based retailtech startup, has raised €3.7 million in late-seed funding. The round was led by henQ, with support from Industrifonden and J12 Ventures. Founded in 2016, Formulate has built a SaaS platform that uses AI to improve promotion analysis within retail. Promotions are important to retailers; often 20 to 50 percent of turnover is discounted or in other ways activated. But at the end of the day, determining whether or not promotions are profitable, whether they truly drive sales, is a complicated process. The Swedish startup’s product, Retail DecisionCloud, allows businesses to make data-driven decisions and not just rely on gut feeling. “Retail as an industry is changing, and leveraging data is at the core of that change. Retail analytics is a €3 billion industry, and it is rapidly growing. Our promotion analytics solution is tackling a classic retail problem with state-of-the-art technology, and the potential to create value is significant,” said CEO Andreas Willgert. Currently used by Swedish retailers, such as Coop and Apoteket, Formulate will invest the recent funding in expanding across Europe. That’s why the SaaS company sought a European investor to lead the round. Willgert continued: “It all came together when we met henQ. Their fund is focused on B2B enterprise software, they are skilled in supporting companies like ours in international expansion, and they know what is required to eventually enter the US.”

Coen van Duiven, founding partner at henQ, commented: “We believe that the market opportunity is huge and the problem that Formulate solves is really significant for the retail market. I think in a couple of years’ time we’ll look back and say that the team at Formulate has initiated a gigantic change in how retail is executed.”