For better or worse, location data remains part of the fabric of app development. Now Placer.ai, a startup developing AI market research based on that location data, has quietly raised $75 million at a valuation approaching $1.5 billion, TechCrunch has learned.
The startup combines anonymized data obtained from third-party apps with AI to provide a wide range of location-based analytics to companies in industries including retail, events and entertainment, CPG, retail real estate, financial services, and healthcare.
We first learned of the funding in a Form D filing in July that detailed Placer's intentions to raise $75 million. After speaking with the company's CEO and CFO, we learned the company has raised the full amount, bringing its new valuation to $1.45 billion, a nearly 50% increase from its previous round, a $100 million Series C, which was raised at a $1 billion valuation.
The investment highlights the growing value of location data to businesses, as well as the app publishers themselves, and serves as a reminder of just how much data modern life alone generates, at a time when more people are becoming aware of data protection concerns around mobile apps due in part to a rise in data breaches.
Placer’s analytics cover general trends such as foot traffic in specific locations or at specific stores (facts such as Aldi currently being ranked as the fastest growing retailer based on foot traffic) but also more detailed data on who bought what and when, people’s demographic profiles and so on.
As some have pointed out, this practice is a bit creepy, but not entirely uncommon. (Other services that track location data include Foursquare, Esri, and many others that offer location analytics.)
Like other mobile analytics companies, the startup collects data via an SDK it installs on hundreds of app publishers, as well as from other third-party sources. The company calls itself a “privacy by design” company, and it said all of the data it uses is anonymized before being sent to Placer.
The company did not disclose who specifically participated in the funding round, other than to say that existing backers also participated. PitchBook notes that real estate investment firm GEM Realty Capital also participated in the latest round.
All told, Placer's capital table includes over 50 investors (both companies and individuals), including Josh Buckley (former CEO of Product Hunt), WndrCo (Jeffrey Katzenberg's investment firm), Lachy Groom, MMC Technology Ventures, Fifth Wall Ventures, Array Ventures, as well as JM Schapiro (CEO of Continental Realty Corp), Eliot Bencuya and Jeff Karsh of Tryperion Partners, Daniel Klein of Klein Enterprises/Sundeck Capital, and Majestic Realty.
The company's numbers are looking good. Placer CEO and co-founder Noam Ben-Zvi told TechCrunch in an interview that the company topped $100 million in annual revenue in February, grew 80% last year and expects to grow another 60% this year. It also has more than 4,300 customers (up from 1,000 when it raised $100 million in 2022). The customer list includes Sony, various urban development organizations, Wegmans, Century 21, and more.
“What unites them is that they all have a stake in the physical world,” he said.
Chief Financial Officer Dean Nease said the funding was raised based on outside interest. The plan is to use the money for business development and to add more features and datasets to the platform. The company already offers “hundreds” of datasets to users, he said.
Founded in 2018 by Ben-Zvi and fellow Israelis Zohar Bar-Yehuda (data scientist), Oded Fossfeld (CTO), and Ofir Lemel (CPO), Placer faced what could have been the demise of location analytics companies just two years later: the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and the world's shift away from physical gatherings.
Especially during times of restrictions, Ben-Zvi said, “our data has given us a very clear picture of what's working and what's not working.”
Building a foothold with customers means that as the world “reopens” for business, the company has also expanded its influence.
Placer has always used machine learning and inference to build more detailed profiles based on data collected from the app, but now it's giving end users an edge, giving them permission to explore how to further incorporate AI into their workflows.
“Clients are looking for a comprehensive, one-stop platform for market research,” he says. “They might ask: Should I go into this market? What's the competitive landscape? They want all the underlying data that's relevant, and all the aggregations and tools on top of it. Analytics is a core element.”