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  • Lizette Chapman
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Percolata Inc. founder and Chief Executive Greg Tanaka
Percolata Inc.

A startup emerging from stealth with the new name of Percolata Inc. has raised a $5 million seed round from investors including Google Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz for its system of in-store sensors and analytics that is designed to help retailers better staff their stores, Venture Capital Dispatch has learned.

Founded in 2012 and based in Palo Alto, Calif., the startup has a few pieces to its technology. The first component–making and installing sensors to detect in-store foot traffic–competes against similar efforts by RetailNext Inc., Euclid Inc. and others seeking to deliver data about the habits of customers shopping at physical stores.

Percolata’s sensors are slightly different insofar as they combine video and audio from real-time traffic along with mobile fingerprinting from shoppers’ smartphones. Percolata charges stores a one-time fee to install the wireless sensors and a monthly fee to access and make sense of the data. Sensors cost between $1,000 and $5,000 each, depending on the scope and configuration, as well as a monthly fee that varies.

Where Percolata differs from similar startups competing in the space is in what it aims to do with that data.

The 15-person startup has built a workforce management application designed to compete against the likes of SAP GmbH, Kronos Inc. and other legacy players. Percolata aims to use data and analytics to better inform managers how to schedule their staff and give employees more control in scheduling their own hours by making the system transparent.

“Retailers are often overstaffed or understaffed, which means they are either losing profit or losing customers,” founder and Chief Executive Greg Tanaka said. “One in three customers leaves because they can’t find a salesperson to help them. We help you understand who you should have, where and what they should do [in retail stores].”

Japan-based casual retailer Uniqlo Co. Ltd. is a customer and just completed a national rollout of Percolata in 20 stores in the U.S. with plans for additional ones in the coming year. Mr. Tanaka said unnamed telecom companies in Europe and Japan are also customers.

The startup, which previously did business as Eyestalks Corp., raised the $5 million in small amounts during the past two years, wrapping it recently as it emerges from stealth. Additional investors in Percolata’s seed round included Menlo Ventures, Foundation Capital and private individuals.

Mr. Tanaka said Percolata is exploring other applications of the data like marketing, performance reviews and hiring.

Write to Lizette Chapman at lizette.chapman@wsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @zettewil