
The Supply Chain Matters blog features our March 5, 2022 edition of This Week in Supply Chain Management Tech, a synopsis of noteworthy supply chain management focused technology news which we believe would be of specific interest to our global-based blog readership.
The Ferrari Consulting and Research Group’s 2022 Predictions for Industry and Global Supply Chains Research Advisory (Available for complimentary downloading in our Research Center) includes a prediction that the supply chain technology segment will feature an investment boom in market consumption, added equity investment and M&A activity. Both our first 2022 posting in January, and our posted edition in February, provides readers updated evidence of these ongoing developments.
Names included in this edition include:
RightHand Robotics
JAGGAER
Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX)
E2open
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RightHand Robotics Secures $66 Million in Series C Funding
RightHand Robotics has announced that it has secured $66 million in a Series C financing round led by top growth investors: Safar Partners, a technology venture fund; Thomas H. Lee Partners, an investor in automation and supply chain; and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, which is part of the SoftBank Group.
Zebra Technologies, Epson and Global Brain participated in the round, along with previous investors GV, F-Prime Capital, Menlo Ventures, Matrix Partners and Future Shape. Previous rounds have been led by Menlo Ventures and Playground Global.
Founded in 2014, this Boston based robotics technology firm leverages capabilities that are described as mimicking human hand-eye coordination, leveraging machine-learning to a vision system on a gripper and allowing mechanical fingers to bend and twist around objects to perform piece-picking tasks. The company’s integration partners include Element Logic, one of Europe’s intralogistics companies; and Okamura, a Japan based provider of high-quality products and services for offices, education, commercial facilities and distribution centers.
According to the announcement, proceeds from this latest investment round will be focused on accelerating product and business development and scaling its global presence and partner network. The company further aims to expand its offices and invest in talent acquisition to support overall growth plans.
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JAGGAER Finalizes Added Strategic Partnership
Intelligent procurement technology provider JAGGAER announced the finalization of a partnership with TealBook, a tech provider that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to gather, predict and refine supplier data and to provide companies with additional product sourcing options. The company’s software harvests supplier data from over 600 million websites, validates it against millions of inputs and data points, and performs an exception-based, automated review process.
In our prior edition of this column, we highlighted JAGGAER’s launch of a termed Autonomous Commerce Network platform. CEO Jim Bureau indicated in the latest announcement that by providing JAGGAER customers with quick and easy access to alternative sources of supply, realized through integration with TealBook technology, the goal is to help mitigate supply risks. Simultaneously, by factoring environmental, social, and governance (ESG) qualifications into the company’s supplier smart-match recommendations, assist customers to achieve their supplier diversity objectives.
Global Health Exchange Acquires Syft
Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) announced that the company has acquired Tampa, Florida-based Syft®, a provider of AI-enhanced inventory control and end-to-end supply chain management software and services. The company will become a wholly owned subsidiary of GHX and will join GHX’s value-based care division’s growing portfolio of technology services to help customers to modernize their supply chains.
Financial terms of this transaction have not been disclosed.
Syft’s automation tools, data analytics and inventory management services are targeted to optimize healthcare provider supply chains, from warehousing and distribution to the point of use. Supported capabilities include aggregating and synthesizing data to drive more informed decision-making and capturing point-of-use supply utilization data to help reduce waste and control cost variation.
This acquisition represents the third acquisition by GHX made in the last two years, aimed to assist healthcare organizations movement to value-based care business objectives.
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E2open Acquires Logistyx Technologies
B2B supply chain Cloud platform technology provider E2open announced that the company has acquired Logistyx Technologies , a provider of global parcel and E-Commerce shipping and customer fulfillment technology.
The total purchase price was $185 million, including $90 million in cash and the remaining balance to be paid in two additional installments t 90 days and 180 days post-closing. E2open additionally has the option to finance the remaining payments through cash r a combination of cash and E2open stock.
The announcement indicates that the combination reflects a purchase price of approximately 11 times adjusted EBITDA when anticipated cost synergies are fully realized.
Chicago based Cloud platform provider Logistyx Technologies connects retailers, manufacturers, and logistics providers to more than 550 in-network carriers with strategic parcel shipping and omnichannel fulfillment technology. The company supports international operations in Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Singapore. In calendar 2021, Logistyx reportedly achieved upwards of $40 million in revenue.
The acquisition aims to accelerate subscription revenue growth and provide increased global platform reach. According to the announcement, Logistyx’s global parcel system will serve to augment E2open’s direct-to-consumer E-Commerce offerings with the attraction of a complete global footprint for multi-carrier parcel management. The combination adds a carrier library of over 550 carrier integrations to include FedEx, DHL, UPS and the United States Postal Service added to the existing E2open platform.
This latest E2open announcement slew of prior acquisition announcements, the more recent focused on the end-to-end transportation and logistics visibility and customer fulfillment area, where acquisition, equity funding and competitive moves have been far reaching.
This concludes our latest edition of Supply Chain Matters This Week in Supply Chain Management Tech.
We continue to strive in keeping-up with the numerous supply chain technology related announcements that are now occurring at a fever pace.
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