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Back in 2014, Stan Garber and Alex Yakubovich set out to reinvent the request for proposals (RFP) process with the launch of Scout RFP<\/a>, which provides a cloud-based sourcing solution designed to help organizations source faster \u2014 and, ideally, easier. Scout RFP was acquired by Workday in 2019, and Garber and Yakubovich decided to stay on under Workday\u2019s management following the purchase. But while at Workday, the pair experienced major challenges with business procurement.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter Workday acquired Scout RFP, we began experiencing everyday pain points \u2014 chasing down the right person to approve a happy hour budget, finding which vendors we could purchase swag from or even getting an NDA spun up to sign,\u201d Yakubovich told TechCruch via email. \u201cThen, of course, there are the endless emails and Slacks associated with these various activities. The time-consuming nature of the tasks created barriers to getting our work done, and we realized just how much data was siloed and the time inefficiencies it was causing across the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n These blockers drove Garber and Yakubovich to found Levelpath<\/a>, a software-as-a-service platform to manage various enterprise procurement services. In an apparent sign that they\u2019re on the right path (no pun intended), Levelpath today announced that it raised $30 million in a Series A round led by Redpoint with participation from Menlo Ventures, which follows an unannounced $14.5 million seed round led by Benchmark with participation from NewView Capital and World Innovation Lab and brings the startup\u2019s total raised to $44.5 million.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not a secret that enterprises struggle with procurement. According to a Harvard Business Review study<\/a> from 2020, approximately 60% of business leaders say that a lack of transparency between their finance and procurement functions represents a risk to their business. Data quality and governance are frequently cited<\/a> as the biggest roadblocks for procurement teams, which often struggle to gain visibility into procurement processes.<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies are looking to save money and focus more on the procurement process,\u201d Yakubovich, who serves as Levelpath\u2019s CEO, told TechCrunch. \u201cIt\u2019s our hypothesis that creating an enjoyable experience will help maximize adoption and, in turn, company-wide efficiencies and immediate return on investment.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, it should be noted that lots of startups are angling to corner the market for procurement software, which Fortune Business Insights valued<\/a> at $6.15 billion in 2021.<\/p>\n Zip is one of the larger players in the sector, having recently<\/a> raised $100 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. Fintech startup Ramp expanded<\/a> into procurement just a few months ago. And then there\u2019s small-time, more specialized vendors like Focal Point<\/a>, Keelvar<\/a> and Tropic<\/a>.<\/p>\n So what sets Levelpath apart?<\/p>\n Yakubovich claims it\u2019s the platform\u2019s mobile-first (yes, really) interface, which he describes rather subjectively as \u201cnext-gen\u201d and \u201ceasy-to-use.\u201d While Levelpath can<\/em> be used by smaller firms, Yakubovich says, it\u2019s intended for enterprises managing hundreds or thousands of vendors and employees \u2014 offering tools customized for each company\u2019s approval workflows.<\/p>\n Levelpath\u2019s procurement management interface, which is mobile-centric.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cOften, what seems like a simple procurement request, such as purchasing a software seat, turns into an endless trail of phone calls and emails \u2014 trying to garner approval from all the right people,\u201d Yakubovich said. \u201cFor example, suppose a marketing executive is purchasing swag for an event. In that case, a filter their company may have on is one that flags any purchases over 5,000 to the department head for approval. If this person\u2019s purchase is only 3,000, they may proceed to their list of approved vendors and begin ordering. Or, if they\u2019re signing a sponsorship contract, it may connect this person with their department head and the legal team to complete their specific approval process \u2026 Levelpath funnels their responses to the right procurement leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n AI plays a differentiating role, too, according to Yakubovich. Algorithms built into the Levelpath platform provide \u201cactionable insights\u201d to reduce instances of vendor redundancy. And Levelpath\u2019s building an AI model that understands the purchasing and workflow habits of employees and adjusts the procurement experience based on this. <\/span>For example, if someone in an organization wanted to purchase software, Levelpath would run through the enrichment data and let the user know of software vendors that offer similar, potentially cheaper products that meet their typical criteria.<\/p>\n The goal is to help companies decide where to consolidate and restructure their services, Yakubovich says. \u201cWe\u2019re the first platform to build with the end-user experience as the guiding light for our entire product roadmap,\u201d he added. \u201cOur mission is to make procurement delightful.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s an ambitious mission. But Levelpath claims to have dozens of enterprise customers already, including Ace Hardware, Qualtrics and Innovacare.<\/p>\n With a staff of 26 employees \u2014 a number Yakubovich expects will double next year \u2014 Levelpath plans to commence a broader go-to-market strategy in 2024 while putting its latest funding tranche toward product development and research.<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies are looking to save money and focus more on the procurement process,\u201d Yakubovich said. \u201cIt\u2019s never been a better time to invest in this space.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n