Thri5 raises $5.4 million to scale AI retail platform
What's the deal? Thri5Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Toronto startup building an AI execution layer for retailers, has raised $5.4 million (US$5.5M) in seed funding. Whitecap Venture PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Mistral Ventures, the MaRS Accelerator Fund, and N49P joined angels Amar Varma and Farhan ThawarDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → in the round.
What's the endgame? Founded in 2024, Thri5 aims to close the gap between a retailer's central strategy and how work gets done on the ground. It says its agentic AI maps how work gets done, flags where value is lost, and helps teams act.
Who's behind it? Co-founder and chief executive officer Jeremy Pee and co-founder and chief operating officer Herman Paek built LoblawDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s digital platform together in the 2010s. Pee later served as chief digital and technology officer at UK retailer Marks & SpencerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →; Paek led Kijiji CanadaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What's the money for? Thri5 plans to roughly double its 10-person team over the next year and accelerate its go-to-market push. It is moving toward a broader rollout for enterprise retailers in North America and Europe.
Why now? A nine-week pilot with Wild Fork FoodsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → delivered a 3% sales increase, the company says, giving it a case study to court larger clients.
The signal: Thri5 is doing what many AI-native startups do — using AI to automate manual parts of software-as-a-service work — and, like its peers, it is not struggling to attract capital. For investors, the founders' record mattered as much as the tech. Whitecap's Melissa Belbeck said Pee and Paek offered "deep domain expertise, proven operating experience, and a history of building successfully together."
Read more: betakit.com
Image credit: nenad53
