Estonian Change Ventures invested in Spanish data analytics startup Algori
Estonian fund Change Ventures invested in a Spanish data analytics solution for consumer goods vertical Algori. Change Ventures and Portugal-based Shilling Capital led a €3,3M round, which was also backed by UK-based VC Flashpoint, several angel investors, including Jared Schrieber (former board member of US data and tech company Numerator and CEO of Infoscout, which is now Numerator), and several Algori’s employees.
Algori was founded in Madrid in 2019 by Lithuanian entrepreneur Andrius Juozapaitis. Algori uses data science, machine learning, and its consumer application, which rewards money to users in exchange for providing their shopping data. The startup has insights from 50K weekly shoppers allowing it to capture 1 in 400 grocery receipts in Spain. On average, it takes 12 seconds for Algori’s app users to submit the receipt and register their full shopping basket data. Algori's solution identifies the shopping basket items on the product level without the need for any retailer sales system integrations. Apart from the basket data, Algori collects shopper demographics, psychographics, past purchase history, store locations, and other data points. Afterward, the data is integrated into a platform providing stock-keeping unit (SKU) level insights.
The company's solution can be used by FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) companies to collect more precise data about retailer-specific sales figures, and in the end, facilitate to get more distribution and more sales. Algori claims that its solution will provide better data and insights, compared to, for example, POS data, which is collected directly from retailers through store scanners, or organized by brands' traditional consumer panels, which collect data through surveys and receipts of shoppers who have agreed to participate.
The startup already partners with several FMCG companies in the Iberian region. Algori will use the investment to scale the business in Spain, expand data science capabilities, and launch its new products. Later it plans to expand into additional major Western European markets.
Change Ventures is an Estonian pre-seed/seed stage venture capital fund, that backs startups founded by Baltic entrepreneurs. It has invested in over 30 startups. The fund was established by entrepreneurs Andris K. Berzins, Rait Ojasaar, and Yrjö Ojasaar in Tallinn in 2017. In May, it launched a €20M Fund III to double down on pre-seed investing in startups founded by Baltic entrepreneurs. The initial ticket size of the fund is between €100K to €500K.
