US-based retail operations management software developer CB4 has closed a $16m series B round backed by Sonae IM, the corporate venturing arm of retail and financial services group Sonae.
The round was led by Octopus Ventures, the venture capital arm of fund manager Octopus Group, and also featured VC firms Sequoia Capital and Pereg Ventures.
Founded in 2012, CB4 provides artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning-powered analytics software to brick-and-mortar retail stores to help them evaluate stock and demand for specific products.
The technology automatically alerts the store manager to operational issues that may be causing soft product sales in contradiction of demand forecasts. CB4 was founded in Israel by Irad Ben Gal, a professor and head of the AI Lab at Tel Aviv University.
The company received $6m in funding from Sequoia Capital in 2014, before raising $390,000 from undisclosed investors in 2015 and $490,000 in September 2018, according to regulatory filings. It identified Pereg Ventures as an existing investor in the latest round.