Sourcing Management Startup Aavenir Bags $2 Mn To Expand Global Presence

San Francisco and Ahmedabad-based enterprise tech startup Aavenir, on Monday (April 14), announced that it has raised $2 Mn in its seed funding round from venture capital company Accel.

With the funds, the startup plans to accelerate the development of its products. Aavenir also wants to increase its global presence by strengthening sales and marketing operations.

Founded in 2019 by Jesal Mehta, Aavenir offers solutions for contract lifecycle management and procurement management on a source-to-pay basis. It also offers accounts payable automation to enable efficient sourcing, procurement and contracting processes.

Currently, the startup is aiming to automate the source-to-pay process on ServiceNow, a digital workflow platform. Notably, Aavenir has recently partnered with ServiceNow. It also has partnerships with tech solutions providers Brightleaf and Mainspring.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Aavenir is offering free access to its contract lifecycle management product — Contractflow — for 120 days. This service will help its clients to easily access and manage contracts while working remotely.

According to Mehta, new-age technologies such as machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), and interactive chatbots are offering better opportunities to automate and simplify the complex source-to-pay process significantly.

In the last few years, there has been an increased demand for source-to-pay workflow in enterprises across the globe and James Maxwell, ISV Lead at ServiceNow, believes that Aavenir has clearly identified the pain points within this segment.

According to an analysis by Reports and Data, the source-to-pay software market is estimated to be valued at $5 Bn. The study states that the industry is expected to reach $9.2 Bn by 2025, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26%. Factors such as the need for streamlining business operations, increasing strategic developments such as partnerships and agreements are key factors contributing to high CAGR of this industry during the forecasted period.

In the segment, Aavenir competes with the likes of TradeShift, Ariba, Basware, Xeeva, ProcurePack, among others. TradeShift, which is eying an IPO soon, is backed by Indian IT major Wipro. TradeShift transforms and digitise the supply chain by leveraging cloud technology.