Helios – an analytics platform that predicts and mitigates risk in the agricultural supply chain – recently launched Cersi, the world’s first supply chain AI analyst. Helios has also secured $1.85 million in pre-seed funding led by Supply Change Capital with participation from January Ventures.
Cersi enables supply chain executives to ask questions and gain better insights about their proprietary supply chains in seconds rather than days or weeks by utilizing billions of climate, economic, currency, and political risk signals. And Helios enables supply chain professionals to detect, evaluate, and proactively mitigate risks that impact their agricultural supply chains.
This 360-degree view of supply chain health is driven by billions of data points and centralized into one easy-to-use dashboard. Users can gain comprehensive real-time insights into their suppliers’ crops down to the farm level so that they can take action before disruptions happen. Helios aims to help managers hedge supply availability and prevent commodity shortages whenever possible.
The launch of Cersi represents a landmark time in which generative AI will make its first impact on the supply chain. This state-of-the-art tool enables supply chain professionals to tackle complex questions that previously demanded weeks of effort swiftly. And Cersi packages all of Helios’ insights and historical context based on a team’s customized supply chain into a conversational interface that anyone can use. Cersi is a 24/7 supply chain expert that protects and future-proofs Fortune 500 clients against costly disruptions.
Helios is advised by Bill Hovis, former Global Chief Procurement Officer for Coca-Cola, and Una Hrnjak, who runs Sustainability Strategy and Programs for Aldi. And their industry expertise and strategic guidance will further strengthen Helios’s position as a global leader in agricultural and supply chain innovation.
KEY QUOTES:
“Cersi brings something truly unique to the agricultural supply chain space–the ability to ask key questions about your own supply chains and receive insights in seconds. On average, we’re seeing the teams that use Cersi increase their productivity by 40%. The combination of our Supplier Dashboard and Cersi makes us the most impactful solution in this space. Most teams still rely primarily on supplier word of mouth, even when purchasing hundreds of millions of dollars of agricultural products. Imagine, rather than wasting time filling out decks or Excel sheets, and relying on generic and outdated commodity reports, your teams can use our custom insights to prioritize and tackle the most pressing risks in real-time.”
- Francisco Martin-Rayo, co-founder and CEO of Helios
“Generative AI is helping to bridge the gap between analysts and their data in the most intuitive way possible. With Cersi, we’ve developed the most powerful application of generative AI for the supply chain to date. It’s a first-of-its-kind solution that will change the game for any Fortune 500 company that purchases agricultural commodities.”
- Eden Waller Canlilar, co-founder and CTO of Helios, and recipient of the 2021 Emerging Technologist Abie Award
“We are thrilled to be leading Helios’ round. Supply chain disruptions cost organizations billions of dollars a year and this number is only increasing with extreme weather events and the volatility of capital markets. As a first-mover, Helios is extremely well positioned to leverage the power of generative AI to ensure continuity of supply chain risk management planning for the world’s largest companies.”
- Shayna Harris, Managing Partner at Supply Change Capital and Helios board member
