CPO Rising’s Technology Round-Up Series returns today with fresh supply management technology news and updates covering a few recent major announcements. 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 info at cporising dot com. Thanks, and enjoy!
ORO Raises $25 Million in Series A Funding to Reimagine Procurement
SAN FRANCISCO — ORO, a modern enterprise software platform that helps orchestrate end-to-end procurement across teams, announced $25 million in Series A funding co-led by Norwest Venture Partners and B Capital, with participation from XYZ Venture Capital and additional funding from Array Ventures and other investors.
ORO’s founders Sudhir Bhojwani, Lalitha Rajagopalan, and Yuan Tung tapped their deep experience building enterprise procurement products at SAP Ariba to uncover a unique insight: today’s spend pipelines look very different from the commodity-based systems of the past. This shift required a ground-up rethinking of how procurement workflows need to empower employees and make it easy to onboard and work with suppliers.
According to Sean Jacobsohn, partner at Norwest Venture Partners, “Nobody has better insight on where the gaps are in today’s enterprise procurement systems than ORO’s founders,” he said.
“Their deep experience has given them a unique understanding of the pain points and a clear view of how to solve the problem that modern enterprises encounter when they need to acquire non-standard items or services. We’re always looking for that innate founder market fit, and it doesn’t get better than the triple-threat at ORO.”
We’ll be covering more about this exciting new start-up in the near future.
Read the full announcement here.
Airbase Addresses Complex Purchasing Processes with Its Spend Management Platform
SAN FRANCISCO — Airbase, a spend management solution provider, announced that the company is rolling out a series of new product capabilities that expand its all-in-one spend management platform to support the advanced purchasing processes of today’s mid-market and larger companies.
According to Thejo Kote, Founder and CEO at Airbase, “Airbase has always been built with larger organizations and finance teams in mind, and this release brings capabilities to support enterprise-level complexity. By deepening our workflows and extending the capabilities of our NetSuite integration, we are allowing modern finance teams to empower their businesses for success while maintaining company-wide compliance,” Kote said.
“Eliminating wasted time and mistakes is at the core of all of our product updates, and that’s exactly what we’re bringing to our customers with this latest selection of features. Now more than ever, businesses are in need of collaborative solutions that are easy to use for all stakeholders,” he added.
Read the full announcement here.
Kinaxis Expands Operations in India
CHENNAI, India — Kinaxis® Inc., a provider of cloud-based, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions for supply chain management, announced the inauguration of a new office at World Trade Centre in Chennai, India, as part of an expansion plan for its India operations.
In addition to serving the Indian market, this office will also be one of the company’s strategic global hubs supporting multiple aspects of Kinaxis growth, including engineering, customer support, professional services, and other business operations.
According to Richard Lord, Kinaxis vice president of sales, APAC, “India is a key market for us since both domestic demand and increased foreign investments are driving tremendous economic growth, and our India-based customers are facing the exact types of supply chain challenges and disruptions that concurrent planning and RapidResponse are designed to address,” Lord said.
The company states that the new office in the World Trade Centre will not only strengthen the company’s India operations and generate quality employment opportunities in the country, but also enhance the product vision and innovations of Kinaxis that help companies plan for the future, monitor risks and opportunities and respond at the pace of change.
Read the full announcement here.
Edison Energy Acquires Alfa Energy
LONDON and IRVINE, Calif. — Edison Energy (DBA in Europe as Altenex Energy), a global energy and sustainability advisory firm, announced that it has acquired the international energy and sustainability consultancy Alfa Energy Ltd., as part of its ongoing efforts to expand its impact and offerings to clients and partners.
The company states that the two entities are coming together to help the world’s largest and middle-market corporate, industrial, and institutional clients set and meet robust sustainability commitments and navigate the choices and opportunities that are emerging from the global transition to a net-zero future.
According to Oded J. Rhone, CEO of Edison Energy, “With more global clients seeking ways to decarbonize their operations, the time is right for Edison Energy to expand its platform across the Atlantic, with service to 22 European countries,” Rhone said.
“During this time of turmoil in the energy markets, customers’ needs are rapidly evolving. The combined capabilities of Edison and Alfa more fully position us to help our clients set and meet their energy and sustainability commitments in a timely and thorough manner,” he added.
Read the full announcement here.
Extend Launches API to Help SMBs Integrate Virtual Card Payments
NEW YORK — Extend, a virtual card and spend management platform, announced the launch of its open API, the most flexible API for making and managing card payments from existing credit card accounts.
The company states that by integrating virtual card issuance directly into their existing workflows and systems, tech-savvy small and medium businesses (SMBs) can streamline operations and solve payment reconciliation, control, and volume challenges.
According to Orna Albus, chief product officer at Extend, “SMBs have rarely had access to open APIs to issue and manage virtual cards for payments, let alone options that work with their current and preferred financial institutions,” Albus said.
“By using the Extend API, businesses across industries can now speed reconciliation, increase control, and manage heavy transaction volume, freeing up valuable time and resources that can be put toward growth, not drudgery,” he adds.
Read the full announcement here.
