One of the most exciting parts of venture is when the excitement of a market matches the shared vision of a team looking to transform that space. We at Headline have been excited about tech-enabled procurement in the physical world for a long time, shared through the lens of some of our portfolio companies and the dynamics that continue to have us excited about what an AI-native procurement platform could look like for the next generation. Similarly to the rise of indirect procurement platforms like Coupa that have shifted how software and services are procured, we were particularly interested in partnering with a team that shared the same vision around the transformation of direct goods procurement, where we saw an opportunity to become the categorical leader of how materials and components are purchased for an organization. Because those flows of goods and processes are even more fragmented than indirect procurement, prior to AI, doing this felt nearly impossible. AI enables this generation’s direct good procurement to not just be a workflow tool, but to really augment the teams and processes doing the work.
Procurement is one of the most important functions within an organization, however, it has been overlooked from an operating system and workflow perspective for companies of all size and scale. Teams have long operated with thousands of supplier interactions stitched together across email, ERPs, and spreadsheets, with forced complexity using tools that were never built for the pace of modern trade. We have long believed that the next generation of direct goods procurement will win by meeting customers where they are and enabling them to have a frictionless experience in their most high frequency workflows by removing the manual coordination layer, and giving operators automation, visibility, and control.
In the search for a team, product, and vision that had the shared philosophy, we are excited to announce our investment in Didero’s $30M Series A co-led with Chemistry and with participation from M12 (Microsoft’s venture fund) and continued investment from First Round Capital and Construct Capital. Didero is a New York based company deploying AI agents that operate inside the systems procurement teams already use, handling some of the core workflows such as supplier outreach and communication, order tracking, invoicing, PO management, and exception management, so manufacturers and distributors can spend less time chasing status, reconciliation, and more time driving strategy. When we met the founding team (Tim Spencer, Lorenz Pallhuber, Tom Petit) it was obvious that their experiences within global trade and supply chain deeply aligned with the DNA of Headline as a global firm with teams around the world.
Didero is showing what an “AI native” platform looks like in the real world: fast and true ROI, minimal implementation burden, and measurable operational impact. A few things truly stood out in the business to us. Firstly, manufacturers and distributors were adopting it across various industries with no hesitation. This ranged from pharma companies, to pet food manufacturers to construction distributors. This is something we definitely didn’t see possible prior to AI. The best procurement businesses had been built on discrete verticals rather than more broadly. The problems, solutions and onboarding we heard from customers was incredibly similar and required little to no modification. Secondly, companies quickly saw the ability to decrease headcount in cost centers in business around purchasing, supplier management and invoicing to focus their time and energy on scaling revenue. Lastly, their team shared our views that the core of what Didero has built is enabling the potential world of autonomous procurement, giving the potential for companies to better understand supplier concentration and distribution, constantly assess and augment supplier bases and streamline purchasing workflows to turn cash management cycles more quickly. We believe this will allow for procurement and supply chains to operate at their best.
The Didero team will continue to accelerate product and go-to-market, expanding beyond core procurement and into adjacent workflows over time. We are excited to partner with them in this journey in building a world class team and product to transform procurement and global trade. If this mission resonates with you, the company is hiring across enterprise sales, customer success, and technical roles as they continue to serve some of the best manufacturers and distributors around the world.
We’re continuing to see a real wave of ambitious founders building in NYC, where teams are iterating faster than ever, just a stone’s throw away from their customers, and a talent density that is contributing to this great city and beyond. If you are building something great, we would love to hear from you! You can reach us at taylor@headline.com and jerry@headline.com