AI retail technology startup Thri5 builds on Wild Fork Foods pilot as it lands $5.4 million in seed funding. Thri5 has announced $5.4 million in seed funding following a pilot and roll-out with Wild Fork Foods. The round was co-led by Whitecap Venture Partners and Mistral Venture Partners, with participation from MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF), N49P and a group of retail and technology veterans. Wild Fork has deployed Thri5's AI technology across its store network in the United States and Canada. "What I look for in any new tool is whether it connects what's happening on the floor with what we plan centrally, and whether the team can actually trust the data. Thri5 does both. Adoption was fast because it told operators what mattered each day, not just what to look at," says Radek Mazurkiewicz, COO at Wild Fork Foods. Thri5 is built as an AI native execution layer that develops context across the enterprise, understanding what is happening across the business, how work gets done and where value is being lost. It continuously interprets signals across a retailer's data and systems, identifies and prioritises the highest value opportunities, and connects head office priorities with field and store execution, orchestrating action across teams, systems and AI agents. As work is completed, Thri5 learns from outcomes, building deeper operational context and improving how the organisation executes over time. Because it sits above retailers' existing technology stack, it can coordinate execution across functions without requiring them to replace or migrate their core systems. "Retailers don't have a shortage of data, systems or plans. The challenge is translating all of that intelligence into the right action across every store. AI gives us a fundamentally different way to connect what the business knows with what teams actually do, continuously identifying where the biggest opportunities are, focusing teams on what matters most and learning from the results," says Jeremy Pee, Co-Founder and CEO at Thri5. Thri5 was founded by Pee and Herman Paek, COO. Pee most recently served as Chief Digital and Technology Officer of Marks & Spencer in the UK. Paek, meanwhile, was CEO and General Manager at Kijiji Canada. The two previously worked together to found and scale Loblaw Digital, building the digital business of Canada's largest grocery and pharmacy retailer from the ground up into a multi-billion-dollar operation spanning online grocery, digital pharmacy and apparel. "Jeremy and Herman have the combination we look for: deep domain expertise, proven operating experience and a history of building successfully together. They've experienced this problem firsthand and are now applying that experience to an enormous opportunity," says Melissa Belbeck, Whitecap Venture Partners. "AI's biggest enterprise opportunity isn't generating more insights - it's turning intelligence into action. Thri5 is building the layer that makes that possible in retail. We believe the shift from systems of insight to systems of action represents an important new category of enterprise software," says Raif Barbaros, Mistral Venture Partners. With the new capital, Thri5 plans to expand its engineering, product and commercial teams and accelerate its go to market efforts with enterprise retailers globally. 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world. Its winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November. Its 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson. In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: "This is the awards' fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA's HQ in the West End." "But I'm conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You're only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we've moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records." He added: "This year's submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable." Congratulations to its winners, and a big thank you to its sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended its 2025 gathering.

The startup, founded by former Loblaw Digital leaders, plans to expand across North America and Europe.