Cofactr raises $17M Series A for component sourcing platform

Logistics and supply chain management software provider Cofactr recently announced the close of its $17.2 million Series A funding round. The new investment brings Cofactr’s total funding to $28.8 million.

Cofactr’s platform can help hardware manufacturers and systems engineers streamline the production, process, and policies of supply chain management for electronics components sourcing.

The platform is already in use by over 50 companies, representing a mix of hardware manufacturers and research & development groups with plans to diversify into hardware products.

These customers span both high-compliance sectors, such as aerospace, defense, robotics, and medical technology, and consumer-facing industries, such as autonomous vehicles and wearables.

Cofactr will use the funding to build on this momentum by scaling go-to-market efforts and growing its suite of supply chain risk management and process tools. The company plans to introduce additional product categories, with multiple applications slated to launch each year.

The funding round was led by Bain Capital, joined by existing Seed investors Y Combinator, Floating Point Ventures, Broom and DNX.

Supplier criteria and supply chain policies

Critical infrastructure sectors responsible for building everything from rocket ships and satellites to cobots, drones, and communication devices rely on electronics. Developers must move from proof-of-concept to full-scale production fast and frequently while accounting for variation across product versions.

Rather than producing components by the millions, Cofactr said companies need to be able to source their parts and materials in lower volumes - something their internal operations might not be set up to support, especially large corporations whose stringent internal policies and financial controls are often at odds with agility.

Companies must know the origins of all materials and comply with supply chain criteria. In regulated industries, supply chain roadblocks are compounded by the need to comply with governmental requirements around suppliers, materials, and other aspects of the supply chain.

Companies with U.S. Government contracts are mandated to use approved suppliers. These suppliers must be vetted to ensure their manufacturing processes meet requirements.

“In mission-critical industries such as aerospace, defense, automotive, and robotics, electronic components represent 70% of the bill of materials, yet existing procurement and supply chain software is generic and not built for the speed and requirements of electronics,” said Ajay Agarwal, Bain Capital Ventures partner. “Cofactr is the first modern AI solution for end-to-end electronics procurement and logistics that meets the needs of engineers, procurement teams, and suppliers.”

Cofactr can unify component supply chain management

Cofactr automates and manages processes at the intersection of getting products to market fast and navigating rigorous corporate and governmental processes.

Within a single unified platform, companies can manage components sourcing, handle supplier procurement - including selecting from a network of pre-vetted and screened suppliers of commercial-off-the-shelf materials - approve and pay for orders, move items between vendors, ship and track delivery progress, and understand real-time inventory availability.

ITAR compliant and running entirely on AWS’ Government Cloud, Cofactr itself is infrastructurally built to meet the requirements of high-compliance industries.

Cofactr’s co-founders Matthew Haber and Phillip Gulley both have backgrounds in electronics manufacturing, third-party logistics (3PL), and procurement automation.

“Traditional supply chain management has left serious gaps for innovative companies navigating the electronics and mechanical spaces,” said Matthew Haber, Cofactr co-founder and CEO. “We’re filling them by creating a seamless link between product lifecycle management (PLM), enterprise resource planning and manufacturing execution systems (MES).”

Customers include e-commerce robotics, self-driving vehicles

Cofactr’s current clients include the robotics division of a large e-commerce marketplace, the hardware division of a social media company, and a self-driving vehicle manufacturer. With an initial focus on electronics, Cofactr is now seeing significant demand from companies navigating electromechanical and mechanical supply chains as well.

“For these companies, it’s not agility or rigor - it’s both” said Phillip Gulley, Cofactr co-founder and chief strategy officer. “We’re giving oversight departments the control, visibility, and processes they require while giving product engineers the tools they need to get products to market fast.”