Helpful e-commerce app Slice snags $23M from Rakuten, Lightspeed, and others

We’ve all been there before. It’s the moment when you realize a package is probably sitting on your doorstep right now, and you’re not there to pick it up before someone else does. It’s unsettling.

The designers behind the ecommerce-focused app Slice set out in 2011 to not only make sure that scenario doesn’t happen again but also to help consumers make better sense of their spending habits. Now the Slice team has closed a sizable $23 million funding round to help it continue its mission of inventing new ways to help consumers with their purchases.

One of Slice’s most popular features is giving people push notifications when their packages are out for delivery or have been delivered. Another is the capability to look over all the receipts in your e-mail box and show you your spending history. Slice has parsed more than 90 million items since its launch, helping explain more than $3 billion worth of transaction.

“Users have had all of this info in their e-mail boxes,” Slice CEO Scott Brady told VentureBeat. “Now we’re making that information more compelling and useful. It’s all in a single location, and we’ve built experiences around that.”

On top of the main Slice app, the company also recently launched a “social book network” called Bookshelf. That app supposedly helps you find and share books with friends.

Today’s funding round was led by Rakuten, the largest e-commerce company in Japan. Others participants include new investors Russia Partners and NPD Group and existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, DCM, and Innovation Endeavors. Including the new round, Slice has raised $32.4 million to date.

This new cash will help increase Slice’s marketing budget and help it find ways to monetize the app. Brady said the company will soon be partnering with some “big names” that will pay to use Slice’s API, which generate much more revenue than it currently is. He believes the API will be attractive to e-commerce players, financial service companies, and “broader Internet companies.”

“We want to invest in the Slice product,” Brady said. “There are many opportunities to use this technology, and we can’t do it all.”

Brady also opened the door for a new version of the Slice app that targets small businesses. Ideally, Slice could be a small business-focused solution that would help track spending, package deliveries, and more.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based Slice launched its flagship app in 2011 and the company now has 50 employees. Check out the video below for more.