Dive Brief:

• Shopping analytics company Granify is getting $9 million from Valar Ventures, an investment group backed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and Facebook investors Andrew McCormack and James Fitzgerald.

• The Edmonton, Alberta, Canada-based company uses retailers' data to predict shoppers' behavior and address obstacles in the path to purchase.

• The company will use the funds to improve services and expand, according to Granify CEO Jeff Lawrence.

Dive Insight:

Granify is a startup that digs deep into a retailer’s data in order to smooth shoppers’ path to purchase. When a shopper hesitates or abandons her cart, for example, Granify’s technology will remind them of a retailer’s return policy or try to otherwise find and address the issue. The company makes money only on those purchases that it helps move.

“We aim to get to the real reason someone isn’t going to purchase,” Lawrence said. “The key is to get to the heart of what an individual is trying to accomplish on the site, what the obstacle is and stepping in to overcome it at the perfect time.”