SupplyHive, a Chicago software startup that helps large companies rate and review their suppliers, is catching on with several well-known brands and is preparing to grow with a fresh round of funding.
SupplyHive announced it raised a $2 million seed round led by LOUD Capital, along with Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund and Cleveland Avenue's CAST US fund. Cleveland Avenue was founded by former McDonald's CEO Don Thompson and earlier this year raised a $70 million fund to invest specifically in Black, Latinx and women-owned companies in Chicago.
Launched in 2018, SupplyHive helps firms with their supplier performance process, creating software that makes reviewing suppliers more efficient and centralized. It's quickly established a stable of big-name brands that are relying on its software, including McDonald's, Facebook, MARS Global and Abbott.
McDonald's recently included its work with SupplyHive in an announcement on its MCDEI initiative, its effort to increase spending with diverse suppliers. Facebook is using the startup to track its marketing vendors and how they're performing, CEO Lou Sandoval said.
"These are enviable brands," he said. "Facebook uses us to better manage their advertising spend and improve their spend in that category and save money."
Rating and reviewing your suppliers can be a laborious process for companies, who often need to review thousands of suppliers—a process traditionally done by spreadsheet.
"In the supplier perforce management aspect, we're replacing spreadsheets," Sandoval said.
Sandoval said the company will use the funding to increase its 15-person team, adding roles in tech, sales and marketing. SupplyHive, which was founded by entrepreneur Mike Anguiano, has raised $4 million to date.
