Coupa, a provider of on-demand e-procurement solutions, has secured $7.5 million in Series C funding led by El Dorado Ventures and joined by previous investors BlueRun Ventures and Battery Ventures. With the new capital injection, the total amount raised by the San Mateo, CA startup gets doubled to a healthy $15 million.
Coupa markets a Ruby on Rails-driven software suite that allows companies of any size to maintain better control over costs by keeping tabs on purchases, suppliers, existing contracts etc. and automatically looking for ways to spend budgets in a cost-saving manner. The software is subscription-based and Coupa boasts that implementation and training times are way shorter than would be the case with its competitors.
Aside from making it easier for people in charge to make purchasing decisions, the completely web-based e-procurement program also helps streamline communication between all employees and executives with a stake in the decision. Ultimately, the software is designed to help companies spend smarter and improve their bottom lines without too much hassle.
The company also manages to leverage popular technology in its solution, boasting a one-click integration with Twitter that enables companies to solicit competitive bids from suppliers across the world using the micro-sharing service. Coupa even offers an iPhone app dubbed Mobile Approver that can be used to access the purchasing system at no extra cost for existing subscribers.
ZDNet recently published a favorable, detailed review of the service in case you’d like to learn more about Coupa.
On a sidenote, Coupa has got one of the best corporate websites I’ve seen in a long time, and I’ve seen many. Even the demo videos are more entertaining than the bulk of what I’ve (been forced to) watch over the years. They’re also great at marketing, having recently invited any federal, state and local government agency to use Coupa e-Procurement free of charge for six months in order to help them establish control over inefficient procurement practices.
Definitely one to keep an eye on.