An AI-powered software company promising to make retail buyers’ lives simpler has received $3.2m (£2.4m) in venture backing.
London-based tech company Handshake has developed a program through which buyers can “make, track and execute” commercial agreements – pulling often complex arrangements made over hundreds of email chains into a single platform.
Designed specifically for retail, the platform has already won customers in the US including 15-minute delivery company Gopuff.
Co-founders Alex Lindsay, CEO, and Peter Welch, CTO, decided to found the company after working together at Bain & Co as consultants to the retail industry.
“I met a huge number of buyers, and heard a lot about the pain points of managing the deals they’re making with suppliers,” Lindsay told The Grocer.
“It’s a hugely manual process. Retail dealmaking is extremely nuanced and complex, and you need a tonne of flexibility – there’s always a new deal structure a buyer or supplier wants to try.”
He added there was “huge opportunity to help buying teams” by building out a system capable of handling that complexity, while also letting retailers have clear oversight of the vast number of agreements made with their suppliers.
Lindsay said the $3.2m raise was a “major milestone”, as the company’s first real institutional fundraise. It was led by Triple Point Ventures, with participation from Bain’s Future Back Ventures and Octopus Ventures among others.
“We’re at a stage where we’ve proven the product’s capabilities and value proposition, and now it’s about doubling down on product development, building out the agentic [AI] operating system for dealmaking, and growing our partnerships with major retailers.”
He added the product should make life easier for suppliers, too.
“Sometimes retail buyers can be so overwhelmed with work, they’re managing so many suppliers that things do get missed. That can be very frustrating – so our ambition is to create a more transparent and accountable way of working that I think both sides welcome,” he said.
Welch added: “Retail buying is a brutally tough job, and the sector faces structural headwinds that show no signs of easing.
“The commercial teams at the heart of it deserve better tools, visibility, and outcomes, which is why we built Handshake.”
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