SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Scout RFP, a leader in cloud-based strategic eSourcing solutions, today announces the completion of its Series B round of $15.5 million in financing, bringing total investment in the company to $27.25 million. The round was led by Menlo Ventures and includes investments from New Enterprise Associates (NEA). Matt Murphy, Managing Director at Menlo Ventures, will join Scout’s Board of Directors.
Scout has carved out a name for itself in the industry by delivering eSourcing solutions that allow enterprises to source faster and make a bigger business impact. Series B funding will help Scout expand engineering, extend its reach to serve global customer demands, and accelerate the innovation of its sourcing platform.
Traditionally, sourcing has been hindered by disparate spreadsheets, disorganized email chains, and legacy technologies that inhibit teams’ ability to work collaboratively, efficiently, and effectively. Scout solves this problem with its cloud-based strategic sourcing solutions. Its simple yet effective interface enables companies to streamline supplier selection, centralize data, collaborate cross-functionally, manage contracts, and make more informed purchasing decisions faster.
“Sourcing has long been seen through a purely operational lens, rather than as a function which can truly impact the bottom line. Scout is fundamentally shifting that misconception and delivering value to our customers by helping them to improve business outcomes and increase sourcing’s impact across the enterprise,” said Alex Yakubovich, Scout CEO. “Menlo’s investment and participation is a tribute to the progress Scout is making, and I am thrilled to welcome Matt Murphy to our board.”
Scout’s Series B funding follows a $9 million Series A investment from lead investor New Enterprise Associates (NEA). Customers using the Scout platform include Adobe, CEMEX, easyJet, Owens Corning, and Zappos. Scout recently launched new product offerings for sourcing project pipeline and supplier management, giving procurement leaders the ability to respond quickly, streamline engagement, and allow sourcing activity to be tied directly to sourcing impact. Collecting cross-department sourcing requests in one place, forecasting sourcing events, and making budgetary decisions has never been faster or more streamlined.
"Scout’s eSourcing product is dramatically improving the way organizations go from ‘source to contract.’ Fortune 2000 customers share this need and yet are still stuck using a combination of email, Excel, and Word,” said Matt Murphy. “RFP’s complex, manual workflows are overdue for a purpose-built application. Just as ServiceNow has become a leading platform for trouble ticketing and Salesforce.com for customer relationship management, Scout is quickly becoming the platform of choice for eSourcing."
This announcement follows Scout’s release of Harvard Business Review Analytic Services procurement industry research, which explores the critical roles that sourcing, procurement, and supply chain management play in enterprise success. The research paper’s findings include that companies that focus on strategic sourcing enjoy not just enhanced profitability, but a range of positive results including improved cash and working-capital performance—results that, in turn, are rewarded by investors.
About Scout RFP
Scout, also known as Scout RFP, provides a new breed of cloud-based strategic sourcing solutions that help organizations source faster and achieve better business outcomes. Leading brands like Adobe, Intuit, CEMEX, Splunk, easyJet, ServiceNow, Cerner Corporation, and Zebra Technologies trust Scout’s automated sourcing and auction platform to deliver greater value through collaborative business engagement. 27,000 active users across 89 countries have chosen Scout’s simple, effective interface to streamline supplier selection, centralize data, and make more informed purchasing decisions, faster. Scout is headquartered in San Francisco, and funded by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Menlo Ventures. Scout was recently recognized as one of Gartner’s 2017 “Cool Vendors” in Procurement and Sourcing Technology. To learn more, please visit scoutrfp.com and follow us on Twitter @scoutrfp or LinkedIn.
