1. Global Trends:
• Global retail tech funding declined by 11% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) to $23.8 billion in Q1’22.
• The number of deals also decreased by 7% to 966.
2. Regional Funding Insights:
• The US led retail tech funding with $9.3 billion, surpassing Asia’s $7.3 billion for the first time since Q1’21.
• Europe saw a surge in funding by 56% QoQ to $5.6 billion due to several mega-rounds.
3. Mega-rounds:
• Mega-rounds ($100M+ deals) accounted for two-thirds of retail tech funding in Q1’22, consistent with Q4’21.
• The median late-stage deal size increased to $100 million, up 11% from 2021.
4. Unicorns and Valuations:
• 20 new retail tech unicorns emerged in Q1’22, pushing the total count past 200 to 207.
• Nearly half of these new unicorns are in supply chain & logistics, including demand planning tech, supply chain visibility platforms, and robotic fulfillment systems.
• Retail tech firms raising new rounds saw a median valuation increase of 2.2x compared to their prior financing round.
5. M&A Activity:
• Mergers & acquisitions (M&A) made up nearly all retail exits in Q1’22, with 256 M&A deals.
• IPOs and SPACs cooled off significantly, with only 11 public debuts in Q1’22, half as many as in Q4’21.
6. Top Investors:
• Tiger Global was the most active retail tech investor in Q1’22, participating in 24 deals.
• Global Founders Capital followed with investments in 15 companies.
7. Sector-specific Insights:
• Store management tech was the only sector to see a QoQ increase in funding, reaching $2.3 billion in Q1’22.
• Funding to food & meal delivery declined 17% from Q4’21 to $3.4 billion, but Asia saw a surge in deal share, capturing 42% of food delivery deals.
8. Valuation Trends:
• Median post-money valuations rose across all deal stages, with late-stage deals reaching a median valuation of $1.7 billion, 42% higher than in 2021.