Advise Raises $1.6 Million for Consumer Goods SaaS Platform

Advise, an Irish software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for consumer goods makers, raised 1.55 million euros (about $1.6 million).

The funding will help the company develop its artificial intelligence-powered SaaS platform, designed to promote better pricing strategies for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms, EU Startups reported Thursday (Jan. 9).

In addition, Advise — which trades as RecommnderX — will use the capital to expand its workforce to 30 employees in the next 12 months to 18 months and extend its market reach after a year that saw revenues grow by 250%, the report said.

“For decades, retailers have been leveraging their data to determine product pricing strategies, while manufacturers have lacked the insights to have any meaningful influence,” Advise co-founder and CEO Kevin McCarthy said, per the report. “With pressure on retailers to consistently drive down consumer costs — especially now amidst the ongoing cost-of-living crisis — this can leave manufacturers with no bargaining chips and very low margins.”

The company’s platform, he added in the report, “democratizes and simplifies the data analytics process,” designed to promote greater competition in retail. The platform lets users compare products’ success among retailers and refine promotional efforts.

Despite issues such as Brexit, the pandemic and geopolitical destabilization, Advise said the FMCG sector has seen consistent growth, fueled by digital transformation, according to the report.

Many companies in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) space are embracing AI in one way or another. A survey last year found that 99.6% of businesses said they were experimenting with generative AI technologies.

Meanwhile, RELEX Solutions co-founder Michael Falck told PYMNTS a year ago that consumer goods companies had more work to do in digitizing their supply chains. He pointed to the challenges faced by companies in the meat and dairy sector, where uncertainties from customers and suppliers require maintaining the right balance of supply and demand.

“Fresh goods demand requires forecasting and optimization because you have uncertainties regarding both the material supply and the demand, which leads to different opportunities in terms of how to use the raw material to meet the customer needs,” he said, adding that this leads to “less shrink and waste” throughout the whole supply chain.