Placer.ai, a pioneer in AI-driven market research based on location data, has quietly raised an additional $75 million, propelling its valuation to nearly $1.5 billion. This strategic move underscores the mounting importance of location data in today’s business landscape.
The startup, which specializes in providing location-based analytics, serves a diverse range of industries, including retail, events, entertainment, CPG, real estate, financial services, and healthcare. By combining AI with anonymized data from third-party apps, Placer.ai delivers invaluable insights to its clients.
The recent funding round, revealed through a Form D filing in July, was confirmed by Placer.ai’s CEO and CFO. The company’s valuation has soared by almost 50% since its last funding round—a $100 million Series C at a $1 billion valuation.
This latest investment highlights the growing significance of location data, not just for app developers, but for a broad spectrum of businesses. Amid rising concerns over data privacy and security, particularly following numerous data breaches, Placer.ai’s success serves as a reminder of the vast amount of data generated in our digital lives.
Placer.ai’s analytics capabilities are extensive. They range from tracking foot traffic at specific locations to analyzing detailed demographic profiles and consumer behavior. For instance, the company recently noted that Aldi is currently the fastest-growing retailer based on visit data. Such granular insights, though sometimes viewed as invasive, are invaluable for businesses aiming to understand and predict consumer trends.
The company gathers its data through an SDK installed in hundreds of apps, along with other third-party sources. Placer.ai emphasizes its commitment to privacy, stating that all data is anonymized before it reaches their platform.
While the specific investors in this latest round remain undisclosed, existing backers have participated, and PitchBook reports that GEM Realty Capital is among them. Placer.ai’s cap table includes over 50 investors, such as Josh Buckley (former CEO of Product Hunt), WndrCo (Jeffrey Katzenberg’s investment firm), and several others from the tech and real estate sectors.
Placer.ai’s financial performance has been robust. CEO and co-founder Noam Ben-Zvi shared that the company achieved an annual revenue run rate of $100 million in February, with an 80% growth rate last year and an anticipated 60% growth this year. The company’s customer base has expanded to over 4,300 clients, including major names like Sony, various city development organizations, Wegmans, and Century 21.
This funding round was driven by inbound interest, according to CFO Dean Neese. The fresh capital will be used for business development and enhancing the platform’s features and datasets. Placer.ai already offers “hundreds” of datasets to its users, a number that is set to grow.
Founded in 2018 by Ben-Zvi and fellow Israelis Zohar Bar-Yehuda, Oded Fossfeld, and Ofir Lemel, Placer.ai faced a significant challenge with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Contrary to expectations, the pandemic bolstered the company’s value as their data provided critical insights during a time of restricted physical interactions.
Placer.ai’s robust foundation with customers enabled it to thrive as the world reopened. The company’s integration of machine learning and AI has been a key asset for clients eager to incorporate AI into their market research workflows.
“Customers want a holistic one-stop-shop platform for market research,” Ben-Zvi explained. “They may ask themselves: Should I expand to this market? How are my competitors doing? What they want is all the underlying data that’s relevant, and all the aggregations and the tools on top. Analytics is a core ingredient.”
