Estonian entrepreneurs invested in Estonian startup ProcurementFlow, which aims to digitise procurement process with its cloud-based software and therefore turn the biggest cost function into a profit generator. ProcurementFlow is an Estonian Software as a Service (SaaS) provider that aims to digitise the entire procurement process and therefore not only bypass the frustration that comes with it, but also save money. The company will use the investment to develop the product, build awareness in the market, engage customers, and build a team.
“I’m very proud of participating to the Estonian digital success story before with Adcash and now by helping promising ventures to grow,“ said Thomas Padovani, one of the investors and founder of Adcash. “When choosing our next investments, we always strive for entrepreneurs that are solving real problems, this is what the market is always buying : cost effective or yield generating solutions,” added Padovani.
“Procurement is one of the most critical cost functions of each company or public institution, which can cause production to stop, quality issues, performance issues and all lead to financial impact on the companies,” noted Thomas Padovani. “The power of AI and the evolved knowledge about user interface management force all the industries to rethink themselves. There is room in many industries today for modernising the tools companies are using. ProcurementFlow is solving a real problem and participating to this modernisation process,” Padovani explained his investment.
CEO of ProcurementFlow Tarmo Saidla, who previously led the sourcing and supply chain analysis at the global industrial group ABB, said that sourcing and selecting goods involves usually many rounds of research, requests, negotiation and approval, which is a lot of room for miscommunication, misalignment and confusion.
“Europe has about 30 000 manufacturers that tailor-make products based on customer requirements, and each purchase must go through a procurement process. On average 43 percent of all costs go through procurement function making it the biggest cost function for each company,” said Saidla. He stressed that with the new service companies not only save money but can also reduce time-to-market for new products and services as well as enable supplier-led innovation.
After leaving the position of Adcash CEO Thomas Padovani has been actively investing to different ventures through his investment company Bellone Invest. The investment strategy is focused on yield generation and long-term investment performances. Bellone Invest has also invested in other Estonian companies like Natufia, Zlick, Modera. Padovani and Webinfluence Group were among the first investors in the Estonian unicorn Bolt.
The investment round for ProcurementFLow was led by Lemonade Stand, a new angel investment fund in Estonia together with well-known investors like Pipedrive co-founder Martin Henk, Bolt co-founder Martin Villig, Skeleton Technologies founders Taavi Madiberk and Oliver Ahlberg, Katana MRP co-founder Kristjan Vilosius and Stagnation Lab. In total the company raised €600,000 of funding.
