Around 50 percent of the costs of an average industrial company are incurred through the purchase of production materials. Manual processes and decentralized Excel spreadsheets often dominate the increasingly complex management of suppliers and materials. Tacto has therefore developed a “Operating system for the supply chain” developed: a centralized management of supplier relationships for medium-sized industrial companies. The AI-based software is designed to enable strategic supplier management, straightforward compliance with ESG regulations, and efficient and sustainable material procurement at optimized conditions.
André Petry, CEO and Co-Founder of Tacto, explains:
"Increasing regulatory pressure and supply chain disruptions pose major challenges to our economic backbone, industrial SMEs: The cost base is rising, material supplies are at risk, and the business outlook is uncertain. Tacto is developing a software solution for future-proof supply chains together with and for SMEs as a response to the challenges of today and tomorrow."
50 million euros from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures and existing investors
Tacto secured a total of €50 million in the now completed financing round. Lead investors in the round are Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures. Existing shareholders Visionaries Club, Cherry Ventures, and UVC Partners are also participating in the financing round.
Petry continues:
"This funding round is a vote of confidence in our product, our team, and our customers. The additional capital enables us to further invest in our technology to help our customers remain competitive amid ever-increasing supply chain complexity."
Benjamin Erhart, General Partner of UVC Partners, says:
"About four years ago, we had the opportunity to work with André in our investment team and get to know his skills. It's great that a startup from the UnternehmerTUM ecosystem is shaping core processes in predominantly family-run companies. This is exactly what we want to support in our UnternehmerTUM ecosystem."
Customers convinced by Tacto solution
Tacto's customer portfolio consists of medium-sized industrial companies from all sectors. The startup claims to already manage several billion euros in purchasing volume and hundreds of thousands of suppliers with its AI. Customers are satisfied with the solution, for example Matthias Schlotter, Purchasing Manager of Swabian machine tools, describes:
"Tacto is our partner for digitizing procurement, from automating supplier management to negotiation support for cost savings. Without Tacto, we would have to hire several additional people in times of skilled labor shortages to address disruptions and comply with increasing regulations. With Tacto, we can focus on value-added topics. For example, we can analyze all supplier data and cost drivers in real time to prepare for a supplier visit at any time at the push of a button, resulting in significant time and cost savings."
