Augment, an AI productivity platform for supply chain, has acquired Merlin, a stealth AI company focused on wholesale distribution, integrating its capabilities into Augie, Augment’s flagship AI teammate, marking the company’s entry into an industry valued at more than $8 trillion in the U.S. alone.
Merlin was led by distribution industry veteran and Applico Capital founder Alex Moazed, who joins Augment as President of Wholesale Distribution alongside co-founders Nick Johnson and John Schumacher, former head of AI at Grainger. The company has been operating in stealth serving initial enterprise customers with over $20 billion in distributor revenue under management, including Ewing Outdoor Supply, Insco Distributing, Brooks Safety Solutions, and Reece.
The San Francisco-based company, which has raised $110 million in total capital, now offers distributors a single AI platform that consolidates the full quote-to-cash lifecycle into a centralized hub, handling quote and sales order entry, portal automation, supplier management, freight and fulfillment coordination, and a knowledge hub for instant access to internal information. Customer data remains proprietary and is not used to train shared models, with all AI learning isolated to each enterprise.
KEY QUOTES:
Distributors represent one of our most vital industries. Without them, hospitals run out of vital supplies, factories grind to a halt, and home builders can’t build — yet they still run on legacy systems and spreadsheets. That changes now. Alex and his team have harnessed AI to solve real business problems for distributors, and their product connects seamlessly with what Augie already does. Now Augie reaches further across the supply chain than ever before.
Harish Abbott, Co-Founder and CEO, Augment
For the past decade, we’ve seen firsthand the challenges facing B2B distributors. AI is finally ready to solve them — but no provider was meeting the needs of enterprise wholesale distributors. Our top priority is putting the customer first. This industry runs on trust, and distributors rely on us not only to deliver AI automation, but to safeguard their data, one of their most valuable assets.
Alex Moazed, President of Wholesale Distribution, Augment
