NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cofactr, a supply chain and logistics management platform that streamlines production, processes and policies for critical hardware manufacturers, today announced the close of its $17.2M Series A funding round. The raise was led by Bain Capital, one of the world's leading private investment firms, which invests in companies that are transforming traditional industries. It was joined by existing Seed investors Y Combinator, Floating Point Ventures, Broom and DNX. The new investment brings Cofactr’s total funding to $28.8 million.
Cofactr’s platform is already in use by 50+ companies, representing a mix of hardware manufacturers and R&D groups at major digital enterprises with ambitious plans to diversify into hardware products. These customers span both high-compliance sectors, such as aerospace, defense, robotics and medical technology, and consumer-facing industries, such as autonomous vehicles and wearables. With an initial focus on electronics, Cofactr is now seeing significant demand from companies navigating electromechanical and mechanical supply chains as well.
The company will use the funding to build on this momentum by scaling go-to-market efforts and growing its suite of supply chain risk management and process tools. The company plans to introduce additional product categories, with multiple applications slated to launch each year.
Innovation Needs to Move Fast, But Internal Policies and External Regulations Slow It Down
The world is becoming increasingly reliant on electronics. This is especially true in critical infrastructure sectors responsible for building everything from rocket ships and satellites to collaborative robotics, drones and communication devices. For large corporations and nimble startups alike, innovation requires going from proof of concept to productization fast and frequently while accounting for variation across product versions. Rather than producing parts by the millions, companies need to be able to source their parts and materials in lower volumes–something their internal operations are often not set up to support. This is especially true of major corporations whose stringent internal policies and financial controls are often at odds with agility.
Regulated Companies Must Increasingly Manufacture in the U.S. Through Vetted Suppliers
In regulated industries, supply chain roadblocks are compounded by the need to comply with governmental requirements around suppliers, materials and other aspects of the supply chain. Companies with government contracts are mandated to use suppliers on American soil or those pre-determined to be in “safe” countries, with a global trend toward Europe and North America. These suppliers must be vetted to ensure their manufacturing processes meet requirements. Companies must also know the origins of all materials and comply with other supply chain criteria.
Cofactr automates and manages processes at the intersection of getting products to market fast and navigating rigorous corporate and governmental processes. Within a single unified platform, companies can manage parts sourcing, handle supplier procurement–including selecting from a network of pre-vetted and screened suppliers of COTS materials (commercial-off-the-shelf) –approve and pay for orders, move items between vendors, ship and track delivery progress, and understand real-time stock availability. ITAR compliant and running entirely on AWS’s Government Cloud, Cofactr itself is infrastructurally built to meet the requirements of high-compliance industries.
“Traditional supply chain management has left serious gaps for innovative companies navigating the electronics and mechanical spaces. We’re filling them by creating a seamless link between Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Enterprise Resource Planning and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES),” said Matthew Haber, CEO and Co-founder of Cofactr.
“For these companies, it’s not agility or rigor–it’s both. We’re giving oversight departments the control, visibility, and processes they require while giving product engineers the tools they need to get products to market fast,” added Phillip Gulley, the company’s Chief Strategy Officer and Co-founder.
Cofactr’s current clients include the robotics division of the world’s largest e-commerce marketplace, the hardware division of the world’s largest social media company, and the world’s leading self-driving car manufacturer.
“In mission-critical industries such as aerospace, defense, automotive and robotics, electronic components represent 70 percent of the bill of materials, yet existing procurement and supply chain software is generic and not built for the speed and requirements of electronics,” said Ajay Agarwal, partner at Bain Capital Ventures. “Cofactr is the first modern AI solution for end-to-end electronics procurement and logistics that meets the needs of engineers, procurement teams and suppliers.”
Bain Capital Ventures has backed other companies that focus on logistics and supply chain, in areas including robotic and cloud fulfillment (Kiva Systems and ShipBob), supply chain visibility (FourKites), freight trucking logistics (TruckSmarter) and others.
Cofactr’s co-founders Matthew Haber and Phillip Gulley both have backgrounds in electronics manufacturing, third-party logistics and procurement automation.
About Cofactr
Cofactr is a supply chain and logistics management platform that eliminates compliance and operational roadblocks for critical hardware manufacturers working on high-velocity projects. The company’s platform is in use by organizations that build everything from rocket ships, satellites and drones to robotics, autonomous vehicles and wearables. These companies not only need to produce and source fast while navigating stringent corporate processes and policies, those in regulated industries additionally need to do it domestically to comply with governmental requirements. Within Cofactr’s single unified platform, they can now automate and manage the complexities of everything from parts sourcing, supplier procurement, payments and shipping to cross-vendor logistics, stock availability, and government regulations. Cofactr is ITAR and SOC 2 compliant and runs entirely on AWS’s Government Cloud to meet the requirements of high-compliance industries.
Cofactr is backed by Bain Capital, Y Combinator, Floating Point Ventures, Broom and DNX.
