When Tony Popov and his team launched Realytics in 2021, they were tackling a problem that few had managed to solve: how to bring real-time analytics to the offline world.
“Whenever we looked at brick-and-mortar businesses, we saw a huge void,” recalls Tony Popov. “While e-commerce boomed with minute-by-minute analytics, offline businesses—retailers, restaurants, hotels, service providers—had to piece together incomplete information, guess at competitor strategies, and hope their decisions panned out.”
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The team behind Realytics had already spent years building data-centric tools for the digital space. “We knew how powerful it could be to view the world through rich, data-driven lenses,” Tony Popov said. But while the online world thrived on precise user behavior analytics, the physical economy lacked real-time visibility and insight.
But for Tony Popov, this wasn’t just a technical gap; it was a structural imbalance. Despite the offline economy generating over $20 trillion annually, the data that brick-and-mortar businesses relied on, such as foot traffic, competitor locations, and consumer sentiment, was fragmented, inconsistent, or missing entirely. “If online players had all the real-time data they needed to optimize in a heartbeat, shouldn’t offline operators enjoy that same advantage?” he asked.
Solving the Offline Blind Spot
That imbalance became the core focus of Realytics’ mission. As Tony Popov puts it, “Customer data helps online businesses win against offline ones. At Realytics, we’re closing that gap.”
The challenge for physical businesses isn’t just limited data. It’s the outdated and costly methods still used to collect it. “Most offline businesses have no idea what happens with a customer during or after a purchase,” he explained. “That’s because studying it properly is incredibly expensive and time-consuming, because the research itself still relies on the same offline methods, like mystery shopping and surveys.”
With limited access to accurate, real-time intelligence, many operators are left guessing about customer satisfaction, loyalty, and competitive positioning. Realytics is working to replace that guesswork with consistent, real-time visibility into customer behavior and market conditions.
Real-Time Insights, No Integration Required
Realytics aggregates and analyzes publicly available data, from foot traffic patterns and customer reviews to competitor behavior and local demographics, and transforms it into a real-time dashboard with actionable insights for physical businesses.
“We’ve learned how to map all online footprints of offline consumer behaviour for brick-and-mortar industries in real time and give them post-purchase analytics about their business, their competitors, and the entire market,” explained Tony Popov.
The platform’s biggest differentiator lies in its simplicity. “Any business on the planet can open our platform and instantly see highly detailed analytics about their operations. No integration required. Updated weekly.”
Unlike traditional analytics solutions that demand complex onboarding or access to internal systems, Realytics was deliberately built to avoid complex onboarding. “One of the biggest barriers to adopting new analytics platforms is the need for lengthy, complex integrations with legacy systems—point-of-sale data, loyalty programs, or supply chain databases,” said Tony Popov. “At Realytics, we designed our platform to work with no integration. This plug-and-play approach allows access to real-time insights from day one.”
Among the platform’s key features:
- Market Intelligence: Benchmark business performance against local competition using traffic and market share data.
- Local Insights: Understand performance at the store or regional level.
- Customer Experience Correlation: Track how customer satisfaction influences repeat visits and revenue.
- Actionable Strategy: Translate insights into decisions on where and how to grow.
- Performance Testing: Test strategies and measure their impact in real time.
From Beauty to Beverages: Scaling Up Globally
Realytics began as a project-based consultancy, working closely with individual clients to tailor analytics solutions. In its early phase, the company generated $300,000 in revenue through collaborations with industry leaders like L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, and major pharmacy chains.
But as demand grew, the team recognized the need to scale.
“We pivoted to a product-based approach to accelerate growth. Over the last two years, we developed technology that allows us to scale rapidly across any consumer and retail industry,”
Tony Popov said.
That pivot unlocked global traction. Today, Realytics serves a broad range of clients, from local businesses to multinational corporations. “Companies from Japan to the United States are already working with us,” said Tony Popov. “Our data and reports attract interest from both small businesses with just a few locations and global giants – from PepsiCo and Starbucks to Mazda and Mitsubishi.”
The company has also attracted significant investor interest, securing over $3 million in funding from venture capital firms and angel investors across North America, Europe, and Asia. This backing has allowed Realytics to grow its data infrastructure and expand its team while keeping product development and customer delivery at the core of its mission.
A Global Startup with Cypriot Roots
Realytics was conceived and developed in Cyprus, a fact Tony Popov takes pride in.
“Realytics isn’t just another analytics platform. It’s a new paradigm. And it was born here in Cyprus, where the conditions for startups are truly exceptional,”
he said.
Their participation in the Startup World Cup Cyprus Finals 2025 was a way to showcase not only their product but also the innovation emerging from the Cypriot ecosystem. “We believe that Cyprus should be represented at an international competition by a project that’s genuinely transforming an industry. Because there has never been a product like this before.”
The event also gave the team a fresh lens on their own messaging. “We realized we didn’t highlight the emotional and social impact of what we’re building as strongly as we could have. The audience responded much more to pitches that emphasized that side,” Tony Popov reflected. “It was a valuable and important experience for us, and we’re glad we had the chance to go through it and reflect.”
Looking Ahead: From Retail Analytics to Advertising Optimization
As Realytics looks to the future, it’s aiming to expand its presence in new markets and unlock more ways for businesses to use its data. The company is actively exploring new regions while discovering nuanced applications across industries.
“A key focus of our company is to continue to penetrate unaddressed global markets,” said Tony Popov. “Our main focus right now is on generating more use cases. With every new client, we discover dozens of new applications for the data we produce.”
One of the most promising areas is retail media, the growing field of advertising inside physical stores. With brands investing more heavily in in-store campaigns, Realytics sees a clear opportunity to help them measure what works.
“Retail media is growing rapidly worldwide,” Tony Popov said. “We already see how valuable we can be shortly for the brands placing those ads, by showing them, for example, which specific locations will deliver the most effective results for their campaigns.”
To support this next phase, Realytics is also building partnerships with global consulting firms and with independent experts who know the retail landscape inside and out.
“We’re building strategic partnerships both with major players like the Big Four consulting firms and with individual professionals who have strong connections to retail businesses,”
he said.
Realytics isn’t just helping businesses understand what’s happening inside their stores; it’s helping them make smarter decisions about what to do next.
