LightSource Labs emerged from stealth Tuesday (April 15) and stated it raised $33 million in seed and Collection A funding to scale its synthetic intelligence (AI)-native enterprise procurement platform.
The corporate will use the funding to scale its group, proceed enhancing its platform’s capabilities and increase its attain into new sectors, LightSource stated in a Tuesday press launch.
“We need to make the simple issues simpler and the arduous issues doable by scaling our AI-powered options and changing procurement from a essential evil to a important enterprise driver,” LightSource Co-founder and CEO Spencer Penn stated within the launch.
LightSource’s platform affords the advantages of digitalization in an space — sourcing — that’s usually managed with handbook processes and disparate data that features emails, spreadsheets and randomly formatted invoices and contracts, in keeping with the discharge.
For patrons, the platform automates the processes of figuring out potential suppliers, managing requests for quotes (RFQs), evaluating bids and serving to groups collaborate, the discharge stated.
For suppliers, it makes it simpler to overview RFQs and reply with aggressive quotes, per the discharge.
LightSource has secured contracts with main enterprises, in keeping with the discharge. Since 2024, its platform has processed over $1 billion in spend and facilitated greater than 1,100 sourcing occasions.
“LightSource comes at a important time amid world commerce uncertainty and volatility, highlighting the necessity for sturdy and agile procurement instruments,” the discharge stated. “This surroundings underscores the important want for software program options that present real-time visibility into provide chains, allow state of affairs planning and facilitate agile decision-making.”
Companies throughout industries have upped their investments in applied sciences to assist procurement processes, and lots of of these which were sluggish to take action now plan to extend their spending on procurement platforms, in keeping with the PYMNTS Intelligence and Corcentric collaboration, “Digital Funds: Modernizing Procurement Processes.”
The report discovered that as of 2023, 31% of shops are already investing in procurement programs, and one other 53% plan to take action.
Amongst producers, 42% of corporations are already investing in upgrading their procurement expertise and one other 44% plan to speculate on this space.
Many of those corporations purpose to enhance their real-time stock data and provide chain analytics, in keeping with the report.
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