SoftBank-backed AI startup Peak raises $75m in second funding round in six months
Manchester-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) provider Peak will expand into new global markets after raising $75m in its latest funding round, led by SoftBank’s $100bn Vision Fund Two.
Peak AI, which sells its “decision intelligence” enterprise software platform to non-tech companies to help with their operations, plans to use the latest raise to double its workforce and expand into new markets by the end of the year.
Its latest round, in which its existing investors MMC Ventures, Oxx, Praetura Ventures, Arete and Octopus Ventures also participated, brings the total amount raised by the company to $119m.
It follows on rapidly from the startup’s $21m Series B funding round, which only closed in February, as investors eyed the strong demand for its product in the last twelve months, boosted by new global client gains and double revenue growth.
As part of its plans to expand globally, Peak will use the latest funds to open new offices in the US and India, invest in its software development, and hire 200 more people in the next year.
Peak claims its platform has helped current customers, which include a range of retailers and manufacturers, reduce supply chain costs by 5 per cent and inventory holdings by 12 per cent.
Its current client roster includes Nike, PepsiCo, KFC, PrettyLittleThing, Superdry and Asos, who use the software for operations that can be successfully automated such as monitoring stock levels.
Peak’s CEO Richard Potter, who claims no other company offers a similar AI product, said: “Modern businesses are complex and operate in an ever-changing world. It’s becoming impossible to run them without AI.”
Max Ohrstrand, senior Investor for SoftBank investment advisers, said: “In Peak we have a partner with a shared vision that the future enterprise will run on a centralized AI software platform capable of optimizing entire value chains.
“To realize this a new breed of platform is needed and we’re hugely impressed with what Richard and the excellent team have built at Peak.”