Foot Traffic Analytics Firm Placer.ai Raises $100M At $1B Valuation

Israeli-founded location analytics and consumer foot traffic data firm Placer.ai announced last week the completion of a $100 million Series C financing round at a valuation of $1 billion.

The round was led by Josh Buckley with participation from WndrCo, Lachy Groom, MMC Technology Ventures LLC, Fifth Wall Ventures and Array Ventures. There was also participation from leading commercial real estate investors and operators, including J.M. Schapiro (Continental Realty Corp), Eliot Bencuya and Jeff Karsh (Tryperion Partners), Daniel Klein (Klein Enterprises/Sundeck Capital), Majestic Realty, and others.

Founded in 2013, Placer.ai provides insights about foot traffic in retail centers, casinos, theme parks and stadiums, and more.

Noam Ben-Zvi, CEO and co-founder of Placer.ai, said in the announcement that the company will use the funding to “accelerate the development of the Placer.ai platform, adding an unprecedented range of new data sets – such as vehicle traffic, planned construction, web traffic, purchase data, and much more – as well as more advanced solutions to empower any professional with a stake in the physical world to make better decisions, faster than ever before.”

“Placer experienced significant growth during 2021 as a consensus formed across the market that accurate, reliable consumer behavior analytics is indispensable to brick and mortar decision-making,” he said, “Yet, location analytics is just the foundation for a much broader and more comprehensive vision.”

Since launching in November 2018, Placer.ai has been adopted by over 1,000 customers including industry leaders in commercial real estate and retail like JLL, Regency Centers, Taubman, Planet Fitness, BJ’s Wholesale Club, and Grocery Outlet. In the wake of COVID-driven upheaval, the company saw widespread adoption among a series of new categories, among them hedge funds and CPG leaders including Tyson Foods and Reckitt Benckiser.