Retail app maker Tulip raises $40 million from Kleiner Perkins and others

By Sruthi Ramakrishnan

(Reuters) – Canadian retail app company Tulip Retail said on Tuesday it has raised $40 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

With the Series B funding, which included participation from existing investors like Jump Capital, Mood Rowghani, general partner at Kleiner Perkins, now serves on the startup’s five-person board.

Tulip app helps retailers tailor the in-store customer experience by giving store associates faster access to real-time inventory data and price comparison data.

The Toronto-based company, founded in 2013, counts retail chains including Hudson’s Bay Co.’s Saks Fifth Avenue, Toys “R” Us and Coach’s Kate Spade division among its top clients.

Tulip announced increased demand in Europe, South America and Asia and plans to open offices in these markets.

“The most important thing we have been putting off at Tulip that we can now accelerate is our international growth,” Tulip CEO Ali Asaria told Reuters.

Brick-and-mortar retailers are struggling to grow their online presence and make their stores more attractive, especially in the face of intense competition from e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc.

“For the first time, very large retailers, which have traditionally been very slow to change, are embracing new technology and new ways of selling in a way that we’ve never seen before,” Asaria said. “And we’re a big part of that.”

Asaria said the company is profitable, with sales quadrupling in the past year and expected to double annually over the next few years.

Retailers are buying up technology companies as they look to better leverage customer data and improve efficiency and customer satisfaction. Target Corp. said this month it would buy Grand Junction, a software company that manages local and same-day deliveries.

However, Asaria said the latest round of funding makes it clear that his company is “not available to be bought” and that he plans to take it public within five to six years.

Kleiner Perkins, which has stakes in Uber and Snapchat, has also invested in other retail startups including men’s casual shirt retailer UNTUCKit and online grocery delivery service Instacart.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)