Supply chain disruptions cost the global economy trillions of dollars every year. In a recent McKinsey poll, 9 out of 10 companies said they faced logistics challenges in the past 12 months.
Major transportation routes have been disrupted, and the headwinds are only increasing. Attacks on cargo ships continue in the Red Sea. Floods have disrupted car production in Europe. And trade tensions are hampering the movement of manufacturing equipment to Southeast Asia.
Not surprisingly, supply chain risk intelligence companies like Interos have had no trouble enrolling customers these days. Earlier this year, Interos secured major contracts with the Department of Defense, the Canadian Coast Guard and the Royal Navy. CEO Ted Krantz told TechCrunch in an interview this week that the company’s revenue was up 35% year over year.
“At a time when the supply chain ecosystem is more strategic and complex than ever, we are poised to accelerate the adoption of our platform across the entire supply chain risk lifecycle,” he added. I did.
Launched in 2005, Interos maps and monitors organizations’ supply chains for potential regulatory, labor, and cybersecurity issues. The platform uses AI to uncover supplier and vendor relationships and scores each supplier and vendor to generate an overview of their biggest potential risks.
Customers can aggregate additional information into Interos from their internal business systems, including financial and contractual risk data. The company provides APIs for integrating data sources and systems for procurement, enterprise risk management, and information security.
Screenshot of Interos’ supply chain monitoring dashboard showing mapped relationships between suppliers. Image credit: Interos
Interos is the brainchild of Jennifer Bischegly, who previously led government market efforts at supply chain solutions firm Manhattan Associates. Mr. Bisceglier became executive vice chairman following Mr. Kranz’s appointment in April.
Interos currently serves approximately 100 clients, including Google, NASA, the U.S. Navy, and defense contractor L3Harris.
That’s an impressive base. But AI in the supply chain market, which by some estimates is worth $5.05 billion in 2023, is crowded with vendors targeting the same customer segment.
There’s Pando, which is developing a suite of fulfillment management technologies. Altana, an AI-powered supply chain visibility platform, recently raised $100 million. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Augur, a new supply chain venture led by former Amazon executive Dave Clark.
Interos wants to stay ahead of its competitors by aggressively expanding its business.
The company closed a $40 million strategic growth round this month from a fund managed by Blue Owl Capital, and Krantz said the money will be spent on product development and expanding Interos’ AI capabilities.
“Blue Owl’s investment is a vote of confidence in our vision for AI-powered predictive analytics,” said Kranz.
The Arlington, Virginia-based company has raised about $290 million in venture capital to date.
