Fairmarkit Aims to Optimize Tail Spend with $35.6M in Funding

Tail spend is defined as spending that accounts for most of an organization’s transactions, usually around 80%, but only a small portion of the overall spend volume, around 20%. Because of the large number of transactions, procuring goods and services included in tail spend can be an arduous process. Fairmarkit is making things easier with its automated sourcing platform, which helps organizations cut cycle times, boost visibility, find savings, and more. Learn more about Fairmarkit and how it can help get tail spend under control in the press release below.

Fairmarkit, the automated sourcing platform that is transforming the procurement of goods and services for enterprises, today announced a $35.6 million Series C investment, bringing its total funding to date to $78 million. The round was led by OMERS Growth Equity with participation from investors GGV Capital, Insight Partners, HighlandX, as well as a new strategic investment from ServiceNow. The new capital will further fuel Fairmarkit’s rapid growth through strategic hiring, increased technology partnerships and product development. The company is optimizing the platform for all sourcing events and plans to add the same level of intelligence to payments, bringing customers closer to full autonomous sourcing. In addition, Fairmarkit was recently added to the 2022 Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies list, ranked 159.

Fairmarkit is an AI-enabled procurement platform built for sourcing lower-dollar, non-strategic purchases, or “tail spend,” more efficiently. Tail spend in an organization can make up 80% of purchases, account for 80% of suppliers and 20% of budget. With its SaaS platform, Fairmarkit centralizes supplier data and leverages its machine learning recommendation engine to match business needs to relevant suppliers who submit competitive quotes. This reduces traditional manual efforts by offering templates and automating steps of RFQs, RFPs, and Reverse Auctions, eliminating the need for buy desks. Its platform also integrates with leading ERP systems like Ariba, Coupa, Oracle, SAP and ServiceNow.

“Our system was built specifically to focus on the high-volume purchases that can require long purchase cycles and largely go unmanaged and ignored by enterprise procurement teams, who have traditionally relied on enterprise technology that is clunky and manual,” said Kevin Frechette, co-founder and CEO of Fairmarkit. “We realize that the current economic climate has put a strain on our customers to do more with less, as every line item is being scrutinized for cost saving and every opportunity to drive operational efficiencies is being pursued. This investment will help accelerate the impact our platform will have on our customers’ bottom lines.”

According to Forrester, US B2B e-commerce spend will reach $3 trillion by 2027. Companies are increasingly relying on automation for better visibility and faster turnaround times for procurement versus continuing to add people. A 2022 Gartner report states that more than half of supply chain organizations will use machine learning to augment decision-making by 2026 and enterprise spending on e-sourcing is forecast to grow at 14% CAGR.

“Organizations are being forced to rethink global supply chains and find innovative solutions to complex procurement challenges now more than ever,” said Warda Shaheen, Director, OMERS Growth Equity and newly appointed Fairmarkit Board Observer. “Fairmarkit offers a solution that enables enterprises to be more efficient and achieve disciplined spend, which is critical to long- term growth and survival. We’re proud to lead the company’s Series C round and excited to partner with Kevin Frechette and the Fairmarkit team on this next stage of growth.”

Over the past year, Fairmarkit’s customers’ spend has increased four-fold on the platform, and they are on track to complete over 200,000 competitive sourcing events this year. In addition, Fairmarkit’s go-to-market partnerships with Accenture, Capgemini, Ernst & Young, Hackett Group and KPMG have contributed to this exponential growth.

Today, the company serves more than 50 enterprises, including BP, British Telecom, Cabot Corporation, Emirates Flight Catering, Vattenfall, Refinitiv, and Snowflake. Fairmarkit’s customers have experienced a 10%+ cost savings on purchases and a 60%+ reduction in manual efforts. To meet growing demand, the platform has added multiple languages and scaled customer support functions for continued ease of use globally.

“Customers rely on ServiceNow as an enduring platform for a fast-changing world,” said Philip Kirk, Senior Vice President of Corporate Business Development at ServiceNow. “This investment is a natural extension of our commitment to transform procurement and supplier operations across the enterprise. As integration partners, ServiceNow and Fairmarkit already help speed up delivery times for sourcing requests through digitization and self-service digital workflow automation. We will continue to innovate to help customers win.”

Co-founded in 2017 by CEO Kevin Frechette, COO Tarek Alaruri, and CTO Victor Kushch, Fairmarkit is headquartered in Boston, MA and has offices in New York and Poland. Since its Series B investment in 2020, Fairmarkit has doubled its workforce with more than 120 current employees globally. The company continues to expand its team and is hiring for roles across all departments.

The full press release can be found on Business Wire.