Artificial Intelligence (AI) company Peak has raised a $21 million Series B funding round led by venture capital firm Oxx, with participation from existing investors MMC Ventures and Praetura Ventures, and new investor Arete. This brings Peak’s total funding raised to date to $43 million.

AI adoption in businesses saw a rapid acceleration in 2020 as companies looked for new ways to boost sales and maximize profits. This is especially true for the many firms prioritizing digital transformation in the wake of evolving consumer demands, the continued e-commerce boom and the global pandemic.

Peak’s software enables companies across sectors including retail, consumer goods and manufacturing to embed AI into the core of their decision making and operations. This commercial application of AI to optimize business performance is something Peak calls Decision Intelligence. Peak has seen rapid growth over the past 12 months with revenues doubling thanks to new customer wins in Europe, the USA, Middle East, and India.

Peak's Decision Intelligence software allows a broader range of companies to access these supercharged technologies that were previously only accessible to a select few, such as tech giants Google, Amazon and Netflix. With Peak, businesses of all sizes are empowered to make great decisions with the help of AI across their sales, marketing, demand management, and supply chains.

With a mission to enable businesses to do great things with their data, Peak’s customers have seen transformational results, including examples such as a 5% increase in total company revenues, a doubling of return on advertising spend, a 12% reduction in inventory holdings, and a 5% reduction in supply chain costs. These gains are adding millions to the top and bottom line of companies using Peak’s Decision Intelligence software.

This latest funding will fuel an ambitious global expansion to meet strong demand, with new offices opening in both the USA and India, as well as continued R&D investment in Peak’s Decision Intelligence software. As a result, Peak is planning to create 130 new jobs globally in the coming year. As part of the round, Oxx's Richard Anton also joins the board.

Richard Potter, co-founder and CEO at Peak, said: “It’s becoming impossible to run a business without AI. Modern businesses are complex and operate in an ever-changing world. Making critical decisions without AI would be like driving a Formula 1 car while wearing a blindfold.

AI enables businesses to make consistently great decisions, faster and more accurately than ever before. Yet until recently this power was only in the hands of a select few. Our software empowers day-to-day decision makers across businesses, and we’re proud to be working with household names such as PrettyLittleThing, KFC, and PepsiCo, and other industry leaders like Marshalls and Speedy Hire.

We’re delighted to have secured this new funding in an oversubscribed round. The financing and Oxx's support will further catalyse our growth and expansion plans, and will help us empower many more businesses worldwide with Decision Intelligence over the coming years.”

Richard Anton, General Partner at Oxx, comments: "Richard and the excellent Peak team have a compelling vision to optimize entire businesses through Decision Intelligence and they're delivering real-world benefits to a raft of household name customers already. The pandemic has meant digitization is no longer a choice; it’s a requirement. Peak has made it easier for businesses to get started and see rapid results from AI-enabled decision making. We are delighted to support Peak on their way to becoming the category-defining global leader in Decision Intelligence."

Ollie Richards, Partner at MMC Ventures, adds: “The opportunity for Peak to lead the Decision Intelligence category cannot be overstated. It has been a privilege to support the team and work with Richard over the last few years, and the company continues to generate impressive growth metrics, fantastic customer adoption while building out a world-class team.”