As Atlanta supply chain technology company Skyscend Inc. prepares to expand globally, it tapped one of its investors and co-founders as chief executive.
Steve Roach, former CEO of software company LSI Consulting, invested $1 million into the company and took the top leadership position in January.
Roach, formerly Skyscend's chairman, co-founded the company with Skyscend President Chaya Gangadarappa. He succeeded Michael Kodinsky, who is now the chief capital officer of financial consulting firm Serve Funding.
The leadership change came as the company is in the process of closing a $5 million funding round, which will bring the company’s total investments to $8 million, Gangadarappa said. Funding from the round will go toward expanding its marketing team, product development and support its global expansion.
Expansion plans
Founded in February of 2021, the company now has 25 total employees. A third of which are based in India with others spread across the U.S. and Canada.
By the end of the year, the company looks to grow its full-time staff to 170 employees. Half its U.S. workforce would be based in Atlanta.
It currently has an office in Sandy Springs at 1145 High Tower Trail. Once its seed round closes, it will look for a new headquarter facility in the metro Atlanta area to accommodate the additional headcount, Gangadarappa said.
The company has partnerships with global tech giant IBM, software corporation SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) and cloud computing behemoth Amazon Web Services Inc., which place Skyscend’s product into their cloud services. This allows Skyscend to access their marketplace to sell to those entities' customers.
Skyscend plans to expand into Europe and several countries across Latin America and Asia through its IBM partnership.
On June 1, the company’s software will go live with Atlanta-based flooring manufacturer Mohawk Industries Inc. (NYSE: MHK), which will give it access to approximately 35,000 vendors and suppliers in the U.S. and 127,000 internationally.
Why it matters
Because of Atlanta’s legacy as a physical distribution hub and burgeoning tech ecosystem, it is also seen as a growing hub for supply chain innovation.
Skyscend is one of many Atlanta-based software companies who provide solutions to the logistics industry. Many of which have received substantial growth and funding as the pandemic increased demand for e-commerce products while labor shortages caused supply chain backlogs.
Last week, robotics company GreyOrange announced they were adding 300 jobs globally following a $110 million investment. Cloud-based supply chain company and unicorn Stord recently raised $120 million, bringing its valuation to $1.3 billion as the company plans for 1,000 employees.
Skyscend's product
The company’s software is contracted to businesses who purchase inventory from suppliers. After purchasing inventory, the software will send an invoice to the supplier with a sign-up option for Skyscend’s platform. After onboarding, suppliers could get paid within two days of a purchase order, as opposed to the months it could take.
Suppliers can also use the platform for real-time tracking of purchases, invoices and payments.
The software benefit suppliers by getting them paid immediately after an invoice, Gangadarappa said. That quick capital gives them ability to grow their businesses faster.
