Swiftly Systems, Inc. Announces Second $100 Million Investment in the Last Six Months at Unicorn Status Valuation to Revolutionize Brick-and-Mortar Retail

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Sep 19, 2022, 09:52 ET

Series C funding to accelerate product investments that empower retailers to transform the shopping experience and compete with retail giants

SEATTLE, Sept. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Swiftly®, a retail technology platform company delivering omnichannel tools for retailers, today announced a $100 million Series C funding round led by BRV Capital Management (BRV Capital), which would bring the company's total valuation to more than $1 billion. In less than six months, Swiftly doubled their funding to $210 million as the company continues to provide brick-and-mortar retailers the technology needed to build strong digital customer relationships while offering a best-in-class retail media network. Its innovative solutions allow retailers to compete against retail giants that have deployed custom-built advanced tools in the retail market, long out-of-reach of most retailers.

BRV Capital led this Series C round of funding, which will be used to continue Swiftly's rapid growth and to expand their product offerings and into new geographies.

Despite current economic conditions the top mega-retailers are dominating the industry by leveraging once out-of-reach technology, giving the top three retailers in the world a distinct advantage over the rest of the market. Swiftly enables retailers of all sizes to increase their bottom line so they are able to compete in an exponentially crowded market, all while combatting a slowing economy and rising inflation. Additionally, today's retail giants are not just competing to capture consumer wallets, but are quickly becoming the world's largest digital advertising platforms. Swiftly's platform enables brick-and-mortar retailers to level the competitive landscape and grow their digital, loyalty and retail media programs through innovative, yet easily integrated solutions.

With all of these factors coming to play in the current competitive market, consumers expect retailers to provide a shopping experience that's balanced between digital and in-store options. Through its comprehensive technology stack, along with a best-in-class retail media network, Swiftly provides the solutions for brick-and-mortar retailers attempting to make a digital transition that will help them thrive in the market.

"Our mission is to empower brick-and-mortar retailers to move from analog to algorithms, as winners in this new era of commerce will be determined by how fast they can reinvent their business to capture shoppers digitally and monetize those digital relationships," said Henry Kim, co-founder and CEO of Swiftly. "We are grateful to BRV Capital for their support that will enable us to turn today's brick-and-mortar retailers into tomorrow's omnichannel leaders."

Swiftly is democratizing the technologies once monopolized, in a way that will foster more equitable competition. Additionally, retailers can generate new revenue from advertising dollars and empower brands to yield better analytics and higher return on ad spend, all while offering customers a more personalized and connected shopping experience.

"As e-commerce continues to surge, competition and technical complexity will make it harder than ever for brick-and-mortar retailers to stand out to consumers," said Brian Lee, Partner at BRV Capital. "Swiftly is enabling retailers to lead the next inflection point in e-commerce and digital advertising by harnessing the power of their first-party data, analytics and personalization to supercharge their shopping experience and retail media offerings to drive margin-rich topline growth. We are delighted to partner with Swiftly on their mission to help retailers compete with retail giants globally."

"We see an incredible opportunity for Swiftly to step into what we see as a 20-year lag in technology in the retail sector. The retail industry has long been slow to adopt new technology as the legacy analog systems they were built on have had little ability to integrate. This lag in innovation has led to an inequitable advantage for just a few retail giants worldwide," said Kwan Yoon CIO of BRV Capital. "Our investment in Swiftly marks our commitment to assist retailers around the globe, close the gap and drive a more equitable and stronger retail market worldwide."

About Swiftly

Swiftly is a leading provider of technology and retail media solutions for retailers worldwide. Founded in 2018, Swiftly offers innovative solutions that drive retail engagement and enable retailers to own the digital relationship with their customer. Swiftly's Retail Tools, Mobile Platforms, Analytics Tools, and Retail Media Network enables retailers to accelerate sales and build loyalty while enabling brands to reach more shoppers and amplify campaigns using the power of 1^st party data. Trusted by hundreds of iconic brands, Swiftly is democratizing retail technology and giving retailers the tools they need to compete in today's crowded marketplace. For more information, visit www.swiftly.com.

About BRV Capital

BRV Capital Management (BRV Capital) is a tech-focused growth equity arm of BlueRun Ventures, with highly localized presence in Asia. BRV Capital helps to create unique long-term growth by backing category winners in their respective industries and maximizing their potential through leveraging over 20 years of deep industry insight and global expertise in applying technological innovations.

Founded in 1998, BlueRun Ventures has identified and led a number of iconic technology investments as the first institutional investor, including PayPal (PYPL), Waze (GOOG), Coupa (COUP), Kabbage (AMEX), Topsy (AAPL), and Chomp (AAPL). BRV Capital in parallel focuses on technology-powered growth opportunities in Asia, and its current select investments include SSG.COM Corp. (#1 digital grocery and lifestyle e-commerce platform in Korea), LINE MAN Wongnai (top O2O platform in Thailand), and Green Labs (leading agricultural technology company pioneering digitalization of the entire agriculture value chain). BRV Capital closed its third Asia-focused fund in late 2021 and will continue to focus on cross-border value creation for its overseas investments.

SOURCE Swiftly