Supply chain AI startup Freehand announces $75m seed funding round as it works with Meta and Dunkin’ — Retail Technology Innovation Hub
Freehand’s central IP is its Category Context Graph, which captures every decision, transaction and exception across a spend category. According to the company, by unifying the unstructured data buried in documents and communication channels with the structured data in enterprise systems, it gives the agents the situational knowledge of a tenured supply chain expert, along with an audit trail explaining every decision.
“In Freehand we found an applied-AI company with a vertical wedge and tremendous customer love, proven at some of the world’s largest companies where early signs of expansion were playing out,” says Dharmesh Thakker, General Partner at Battery Ventures, who is joining Freehand’s board. “Unlike co-pilots that simply answer questions, Freehand’s Agents have enterprise context, make decisions, and take actions – this agency unlocks millions in savings for enterprises.”
“What stood out to us about Freehand wasn’t just the technology, but the measurable business outcomes customers were achieving,” says Gregoire Lehmann, Partner at NewRoad Capital Partners. “Freehand is delivering immediate ROI by helping enterprises reduce overpayments and operating costs, improve audit accuracy, and automate highly manual supply chain finance workflows. We believe the company is well positioned to become the category leader in AI native supply chain spend management, and we’re excited to leverage NewRoad’s deep network of enterprises to help expand the company’s enterprise footprint.”
“America’s industrial competitiveness relies on how effectively our largest companies operate,” says Penny Pritzker. “Freehand is one of a few companies converting frontier AI into measurable productivity gains across enterprise supply chains, with rigor, scale and accountability.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 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 our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
