Investors in Toronto-based Thri5 include Whitecap Venture Partners and Mistral Venture Partners, which co-led the seed round. MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund and N49P also invested in the round, which closed in July. Thri5 will use the new capital to grow its 10-person team and market itself to more potential clients. (The Logic)

Talking point: Thri5’s co-founders helped launch Loblaw Digital, the grocery giant’s tech unit; CEO Jeremy Pee was then chief digital and technology officer at British high street icon Marks and Spencer while chief operating officer Herman Paek was CEO of Kijiji for Canada. Thri5’s AI tools use data from its retail clients’ software systems to recommend actions that staff at stores, warehouses or headquarters should take to grow sales, raise margins or increase product availability. The technology then monitors whether and how the tasks get done. Thri5 claims it drove three per cent sales growth and a 3.6 per cent profit increase at test client Wild Fork Foods, a U.S. butcher chain. “The numbers might look small on an absolute basis,” Peak said, but “that’s more than most retailers expect to grow in the entire year.” Thri5 plans to eventually expand into human-heavy sectors like services and manufacturing.

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