Albertsons sued for allegedly copying software from Seattle startup

(Bloomberg) — Albertsons Cos. is being sued by an e-commerce software maker that alleges the grocery chain spent three years testing its product, then stole its trade secrets and developed its own system.

Seattle startup Replenium Inc. said in the lawsuit that it entered into an agreement with Albertsons in 2020 to implement software that allows online shoppers to subscribe to automatic refills of frequently purchased items. Albertsons agreed to begin testing the software in a limited number of locations and then roll out the service to more than 2,000 stores in more than 30 states, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Seattle.

Replenium says it negotiated in good faith with Albertsons, sharing details of its software so it could be integrated with the grocery chain’s systems and rolled out nationally, with payments to Replenium based on revenue. But Albertsons abruptly ended the relationship in November, the startup says.

“Albertsons’ computational maneuver cost Replenium millions of dollars in implementation and operations investment, tens of millions of dollars in projected revenues… and a massive loss of value to Replenium’s enterprise,” the software company alleged, saying the chain “acted in bad faith by repeatedly squeezing and ultimately abandoning Replenium.”

Replenium accuses Albertsons of misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract and unjust enrichment and is seeking unspecified monetary damages to be determined at trial.

Founded in 2015, Replenium has raised $18 million in funding and has 22 employees, according to Pitchbook. CEO Tom Furphy previously worked at Amazon.com Inc., as did Replenium CTO Umair Bashir.

Albertsons is the second-largest grocery chain in the U.S. It is currently in the process of merging with Kroger Co., which is currently under review by regulators.

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