LONDON — June 1, 2026
Executive Summary
Handshake, an AI-powered retail agreement platform, has announced a $3.2 million funding round led by Triple Point Ventures, with participation from Future Back Ventures by Bain & Company, Octopus Ventures, and other retail technology investors. The funding will support product development, growth of the company’s engineering and customer success teams, and deeper partnerships across the retail ecosystem. Founded in 2024 and headquartered in London, Handshake is focused on helping retailers, wholesalers, and suppliers manage commercial agreements through a single transparent platform.
Announcement Overview
Handshake has secured $3.2 million in new funding to accelerate the growth of its AI-native retail buying platform, which is designed to help retailers and suppliers create, track, and execute commercial agreements in one centralized system. The investment round was led by Triple Point Ventures and supported by Future Back Ventures by Bain & Company, Octopus Ventures, and additional retail technology investors. The company aims to address long-standing operational challenges across retail buying by replacing fragmented processes, spreadsheets, disconnected systems, and informal agreement management with a more structured, transparent, and data-driven approach. The funding will support continued platform development and expansion across the retail sector.
Key Announcement Details
- Announcement Type: Funding Round
- Company: Handshake Solutions Ltd
- Funding Raised: $3.2 Million
- Funding Round Lead: Triple Point Ventures
- Participating Investors: Future Back Ventures by Bain & Company, Octopus Ventures, and other retail technology investors
- Platform: Handshake AI-Powered Retail Agreement Platform
- Platform Category: AI-Native Retail Buying and Commercial Agreement Management
- Target Users: Retailers, Wholesalers, and Suppliers
- Primary Purpose: Centralize, manage, track, and execute commercial agreements through a single transparent platform
- Industry Focus: Retail Technology
- Operational Focus: Commercial agreements, supplier collaboration, contract management, rebates, activations, and joint business planning
- Key Industry Challenge Addressed: Fragmented agreement management across spreadsheets, email chains, siloed systems, and informal processes
- Funding Utilization: Product development, engineering team expansion, customer success growth, and retailer and supplier partnership expansion
- Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
- Founded: 2024
- Technology Focus: Artificial Intelligence, Retail Operations, Commercial Decision-Making, Agreement Execution
- Strategic Objective: Build an AI-native operating system for retail buying
- Customer Benefits: Greater visibility, accountability, operational efficiency, and structured collaboration
- Industry Opportunity: Modernization of commercial agreement management across the retail ecosystem
- Website: handshake-solutions.com
Funding Round Led by Triple Point Ventures
Handshake Solutions Ltd announced a $3.2 million funding round to support the next phase of growth for its retail technology platform.
Funding Participants:
- Triple Point Ventures (Lead Investor)
- Future Back Ventures by Bain & Company
- Octopus Ventures
- Other retail technology investors
According to the company, the new capital will be used to:
- Accelerate product development
- Expand engineering capabilities
- Grow customer success operations
- Deepen relationships with retailers and suppliers
- Scale platform adoption across the retail sector
The investment marks a significant milestone for the London-based company as it continues building technology designed specifically for commercial agreement management within retail.
Commercial Agreements Remain a Major Retail Challenge
Handshake highlighted that while retail operations have undergone significant digital transformation over the past decade, the commercial agreements that underpin retail trading relationships continue to rely heavily on outdated processes.
According to the company, product placement, supplier activations, rebates, promotional arrangements, and numerous other commercial terms are often managed through fragmented systems and manual workflows.
The company noted that many organizations continue to rely on:
- Spreadsheets
- Email chains
- Disconnected software systems
- Manual record keeping
- Informal commercial agreements
Handshake stated that despite retail being a global industry valued at approximately $18.8 trillion, agreement management remains largely fragmented across many organizations.
The company further noted that fewer than 50% of suppliers currently maintain written agreements with the retailers they supply.
Handshake’s AI-Powered Retail Agreement Platform
Handshake has developed what it describes as the first AI-powered agreement platform built specifically for retail.
The platform is designed to provide retailers, wholesalers, and suppliers with a single environment for managing commercial agreements throughout their lifecycle.
Core Platform Capabilities Include:
- Creating commercial agreements
- Tracking agreement performance
- Executing commercial commitments
- Centralizing agreement visibility
- Improving accountability
- Supporting data-driven decision making
According to the company, the platform replaces fragmented agreement management processes with a more transparent and structured operating model.
Handshake stated that the objective is to help organizations manage increasingly complex commercial relationships while improving efficiency and consistency across trading teams.
Retail Industry Faces Growing Operational Complexity
The company outlined several industry conditions contributing to increased demand for modern agreement management tools.
According to Handshake, retail organizations are operating in an environment characterized by:
- Inflationary pressures
- Cost volatility
- Tighter operating margins
- Increasing supplier complexity
- Enhanced compliance requirements
- Growing operational demands
The company believes these conditions have increased the importance of scalable and efficient deal-making processes.
By consolidating commercial agreements into a single platform, Handshake aims to help organizations improve visibility, strengthen trading relationships, and enhance operational effectiveness.
According to the company, greater transparency across commercial agreements can support stronger collaboration between retailers, wholesalers, and suppliers.
Customer Perspective on Platform Adoption
Victor Angline, Director of Merchandising Strategy and Supplier Relations at Gopuff, discussed the company’s experience using Handshake.
“At Gopuff, our merchandising teams oversee hundreds of supplier partnerships across multiple categories, so it’s important we have the right tools to manage all the details. We chose Handshake to empower our merchants with a platform that enables seamless management of contracts, agreements, and joint business plans. They have been amazing partners, and we look forward to continued collaboration.”
The statement highlights how organizations with extensive supplier networks are utilizing the platform to centralize commercial agreement management and improve operational coordination across categories.
Leadership Commentary From Handshake CEO Alex Lindsay
Alex Lindsay, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Handshake, said the retail industry continues to rely on processes that have not evolved at the same pace as other areas of retail operations.
“Technology has transformed almost every corner of retail over the past decade, but retail buying still runs largely on spreadsheets, disconnected systems, and anecdotal memory.”
“That creates enormous operational complexity in an industry where margins are tight and every commercial decision matters. We believe there’s a huge opportunity to build the AI-native operating system for retail buying, one that gives retailers and suppliers the visibility, structure, and accountability they need to work better together.”
According to the company, the platform is intended to serve as a foundation for improving commercial coordination across the retail ecosystem through AI-enabled workflows and centralized agreement management.
Funding to Support Product Development and Team Expansion
Handshake stated that the newly raised capital will support several strategic priorities across the organization.
Planned Areas of Investment Include:
- Product innovation
- AI platform development
- Engineering team growth
- Customer success expansion
- Retailer partnerships
- Supplier partnerships
- Platform scalability
The company stated that these investments will support broader adoption of its retail agreement platform while strengthening capabilities required to serve larger organizations and more complex commercial environments.
CTO Peter Welch on Retail Buying Transformation
Peter Welch, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Handshake, emphasized the operational challenges facing commercial teams throughout the retail sector.
“Retail buying is a brutally tough job, and the sector faces structural headwinds that show no signs of easing. The commercial teams at the heart of it deserve better tools, visibility, and outcomes, which is why we built Handshake.”
“Handshake is a fundamental reimagining of how retailers and suppliers work together, and there’s never been a better moment to bring this to the sector. We believe this category is one of the largest untapped opportunities in retail.”
The company stated that addressing these challenges requires a combination of retail expertise, AI capabilities, and enterprise-grade product development.
Building an AI-Native Operating System for Retail Buying
According to Handshake, modernizing retail buying requires more than digitizing existing workflows.
The company stated that its approach combines:
- Retail operations expertise
- Enterprise technology experience
- Artificial intelligence capabilities
- Product engineering expertise
- Commercial agreement specialization
Handshake noted that its platform is designed specifically around the realities of retail commerce and the requirements of organizations managing large supplier and trading relationships.
The company believes that improving agreement visibility and execution can help organizations make better commercial decisions while supporting stronger relationships across the retail value chain.
Investor Perspective on the Opportunity
Cameron Ramsay, Director at Future Back Ventures by Bain & Company, discussed the firm’s investment rationale and view of the market opportunity.
“Handshake is transforming how retailers and suppliers work together, and its team combines the technical depth and category expertise this problem demands. This is a category ripe for disruption in the age of AI.”
“Handshake’s platform offers a genuinely credible path forward on a problem the entire sector has wrestled with for years. And our Bain experience only reinforced our conviction in both the team and opportunity. Its potential to unlock value across retailers, wholesalers, and suppliers is substantial.”
The investment reflects continued interest in technology platforms focused on improving operational efficiency and decision-making across retail organizations.
About Handshake
Handshake is an AI-powered retail agreement platform designed to help retailers, wholesalers, and suppliers create, track, and execute commercial agreements within a single transparent system.
The platform is intended to reduce operational complexity, improve commercial decision-making, and support more effective collaboration across trading organizations.
Founded in 2024 and headquartered in London, Handshake is backed by Triple Point Ventures, Future Back Ventures by Bain & Company, and Octopus Ventures.
Media Contact
For additional information, visit handshake-solutions.com.
Source Attribution
Source: Company announcement
