CPO Rising’s Technology Round-Up returns today with an assortment of supply management technology news and updates from the past month to share with our community. If you are a sourcing, procurement, or spend management solution provider and you are continually innovating the way that procurement and supply chain leaders and practitioners drive value, we’d love to hear from you. Please drop us a note at editor at cporising dot com. Thanks, and enjoy!

Basware Releases Annual Report for 2018 Detailing Performance, Highlights

Last week, Basware, the Finland-based business network and procure-to-pay (P2P) solutions provider, released its Annual Report 2018 detailing its financial performance and highlights for the year that was. In a video message to customers, employees, and shareholders, Basware CEO, Vesa Tykkyläinen, shared that in 2018 the company added artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to its solutions, namely machine learning and virtual assistants, to boost user experience (UX) and reduce the need for training. Vesa also said that 63% of Basware’s sales in 2018 were from Cloud-based solutions, and that the company is “approaching the final stage of becoming a” Cloud-based solution provider. In the meantime, Basware reported the following financial performance results for 2018: 

• €141 million in net sales, down 5.2% from 2017
• €89 million in Cloud revenue, up 11.4% from 2017
• 21,474 in Cloud order intake, up 19.7% from 2017
• €9.2 million in EBITDA
• €7 million in losses for the period, down 38.6% from 2017
• €40.75 million in cash and cash equivalents, nearly double from 2017

Bonfire Merges with GTY Technology Holdings, Plans for IPO

Also last week, Canada-based Bonfire, which provides sourcing enablement platforms for public and private sector procurement teams, announced that it along with five other government-focused Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers has merged with GTY Technology Holdings Inc. The newly-consolidated company will retain the GTY Technology Holdings brand and focus its attention on digitizing the public sector. Bonfire was selected for its work in digitizing public-sector procurement organizations and will retain that mission, and its company name, moving forward. The newly-consolidated GTY Technology Holdings company is also preparing for an initial public offering as it plans to transition to a publicly-traded entity.

Bamboo Rose Adds New Features to Refreshed Marketplace

Earlier this month, Bamboo Rose, a Boston-area digital marketplace that connects retailers, suppliers, and third parties to quickly develop and deliver innovative products to consumer markets, announced the release of 2019R1 for the Bamboo Rose Multi-Enterprise Platform. Release 2019R1 is set to boost visibility into materials management, foster greater collaboration through its mobile app, and make it easier for multiple parties to collaborate on the design and production of 3-D prototypes. Increased visibility into materials – in this case, fabric – will enable retailers and manufacturers to move products and raw materials from one location to another vis-a-vis shifting demand and supply cycles. It has added QR Code scanning capability to the mobile app, enabling users to scan QR Codes on materials samples to be able to quickly accept or reject the sample. And Bamboo Rose has made it easier for manufacturers to upload and animate 3-D designs, which ought to reduce the need to manufacture prototypes, speed the evaluation process up, and in the process, reduce the cost and risk to the manufacturer.

Egencia Innovates, Refreshes Business Travel Management Platform

Last week, Egencia, the business travel arm of Expedia, announced that it has added several new and innovative features to its business travel management platform. Egencia Hotel Conversations, a two-way communication channel between the business travel and hotel front desk staff, will enable faster out reach and requests for information and assistance (for example, asking for a late check-in due to a late arrival). Egencia Air and Hotel packages allow business travelers to couple air and hotel bookings into one fare to reduce the overall cost — a feature long found in the leisure travel booking side of Egencia (Expedia). Finally, enhancements to Egencia Travel Tracker will enable travel managers to view a larger geographic area when searching for their employees during “duty to care” efforts.

Coupa Partners with Launchship Technology Solutions

And finally, Coupa Software (NASDAQ: COUP), the San Francisco-based spend management solutions provider, announced that it has partnered with Launchship Technology Solutions, an India-based provider of consulting services and software solutions, in which Launchship will be a preferred implementation partner for Coupa Contingent Workforce. Launchship used to partner with DCR Workforce as an implementation partner until Coupa acquired DCR in September of 2018 (click here to read Ardent’s expert analysis on the deal and its implications). DCR has essentially been rebranded as Coupa Contingent Workforce. As such, Launchship partnering with Coupa is a reunion of sorts for the two entities.

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