Intelligent Sourcing Company Keelvar Closes $24 Million In Funding

By Noah Long ● May 23, 2022
  • Keelvar announced it raised $24 million in Series B funding. These are the details.

Keelvar – a global pioneer of intelligent sourcing and automation solutions – recently announced it has raised $24 million in Series B funding to simplify and radically improve procurement. And Keelvar’s sourcing technology – which utilizes AI, data science, and smart sourcing bots that run on autopilot – empowers customers to make crucial supply chain decisions quickly and confidently amidst ongoing change and disruption.

The funding – which brings Keelvar’s total capital raised to $43 million – was led by 83North. And Series A investors Elephant, Mosaic, and Paua doubled down on their investment. Bastian Nomichacher, the co-founder and co-CEO of Celonis, also joined as a minority investor. Keelvar’s Series B builds on a period of rapid growth and expansion for the company, which increased its headcount by 200% since the start of 2021 and grew ARR by 113% last year.

Keelvar is enabling leading enterprises like Coca-Cola, Nestle, Samsung, and Tesco to identify reliable suppliers, control costs and make quick, effective, and smart sourcing decisions that drive key business objectives, like ESG, product innovation, profitability, and resilience. This technology automates the tactical aspects of managing a sourcing event and leverages artificial intelligence to weigh various sourcing scenarios and guide customers to the best decision for their supply chains.

Keelvar is going to utilize the investment to further scale in the U.S. where demand for intelligent sourcing solutions is rapidly increasing. And the company plans to provide new solutions for large enterprise and mid-market businesses and accelerate its vision of making sourcing automation frictionless, no-code, and available to all.

KEY QUOTES:

“Procurement is broken. Costs are out of control, capacity is scarce and disruptions are everywhere. This dynamic makes it incredibly difficult for buyers and suppliers to remain agile, manage risk, and strike deals. We see an immense opportunity to alleviate economic and supply chain bottlenecks by making the sourcing process easier, faster, and more intelligent. Our technology fundamentally changes what’s possible by offering a new approach to intelligent automation and optimization.”

– Alan Holland, founder and CEO of Keelvar

“Keelvar provides a robust, proven and powerful optimization solution that’s very easy to use. We began leveraging the solution to help manage one of our most complex categories – global transport. The technology was so effective we quickly expanded its use across our supply chain.”

– Brett Fultz, Director of Global Analytics, Global Procurement and Supply Chain at Coca-Cola

“Enterprises were blindsided when the pandemic shut down the global supply chain. As issues persist and show no sign of relenting, C-suites are finally recognizing that intelligent automation is a must-have. Keelvar’s unique automation and optimization solutions empower procurement teams by helping them easily define their needs and react faster to market changes. The company’s blue-chip customer list and incredible retention and satisfaction rates are a powerful testament to their technology, team and vision. Keelvar is revolutionizing how procurement is done and we are excited to be part of its success in the years to come.”

– Philip Chopin, partner at 83North