Hundreds of top enterprise customers use Llamasoft’s technology.

Coupa Software (NASDAQ: COUP) announced Monday its acquisition of Llamasoft, a supply chain software company for $1.5 billion. Llamasoft’s AI-powered, cloud platform helps companies make better informed and faster crucial supply chain decisions. (CISION PR NEWSWIRE)

Llamasoft

Ann Arbor-based Llamasoft was founded in 2002. It released its llama.ai product this January. It facilitates supply-chain related business decisions that are powered by the platform’s AI.

Businesses can create “purpose-built applications that leverage an end-to-end decision data model” and run “what-if scenarios” before implementing a strategy.

“With demand uncertainty on one hand, and supply volatility on the other, companies are in need of supply chain technology that can help them assess alternatives and balance trade-offs to achieve desired business results,” said Coupa in a statement. “LLamasoft provides these capabilities with an AI-powered cloud platform.”

Investors in Llamasoft include TPG Capital, which purchased a stake in 2017, according to the WSJ. Crain’s DETROIT BUSINESS said the takeover provided a lucrative exit for MK Capital, a suburban Chicago-based venture capital firm that invested $4.1 million in a Series A round in 2012 at a valuation of about $20 million.

Llamasoft serves top-notch customers such as Boeing (NYSE: BA), Danone S.A. (EPA: BN), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), and Nestle (SWX: NESN).

According to Crunchbase, Coupa has purchased 17 companies over the years, and the current deal is the fourth this year.

Synergy with Coupa’s business

“LLamasoft’s deep supply chain expertise and sophisticated data science and modeling capabilities, combined with the roughly $2 trillion of cumulative transactional spend data we have in Coupa, will empower businesses with the intelligence needed to pivot on a dime,” said Rob Bernshteyn, chairman and CEO at Coupa. “Together, we will deliver a more powerful Business Spend Management platform to help organizations everywhere maximize the value of every dollar they spend in a smarter, simpler, and safer way.”

On its website, Coupa defines its Business Spend Management as a unified set of business processes, supported by software, that covers procurement, invoice management, and expense management—all the ways employees spend money.

According to the WSJ, Coupa’s platform has more than $1.95 trillion in cumulative spending by its customers under management. The platform has a network of more than 5 million suppliers.

“Incorporating supply chain planning capabilities as part of a comprehensive BSM strategy will give companies more visibility and control across their direct and indirect spend,” said Mickey North Rizza, program vice president of enterprise applications and digital commerce at IDC.

Related Story:  IBM Creates Blockchain Platform to Onboard New Suppliers for COVID-19