Why Zip’s $190 Million Funding Round Is the Biggest Procurement Investment in 20 Years!

“Procurement is broken,” asserts Rujul Zaparde, co-founder and CEO of Zip. “Businesses waste billions navigating cumbersome approval systems and manually entering data. We’re here to change that.” In a pivotal step toward revolutionizing procurement technology, Zip has announced a landmark $190 million Series D funding round, boosting the company’s valuation to $2.2 billion.

The funding round was led by BOND, with participation from new investors DST Global, Adams Street, and Alkeon, along with continued support from existing investors Y Combinator and CRV. “Zip is one of those rare opportunities in enterprise software that doesn’t come along often,” said Jay Simons, General Partner at BOND and former President of Atlassian. “What sets Zip apart is its relentless focus on customer success and product innovation, which in today’s tough macro environment is exactly what enterprises need to drive efficiency and rein in costs. The team has built a product so essential that it’s quickly becoming the go-to platform for the world’s biggest companies. We’re confident Zip is primed to be a staple in every Fortune 500 tech stack.”

This funding represents not only a significant milestone for Zip but also the largest investment in procurement technology in over two decades. It highlights the trust of Zip’s clientele, who have relied on the platform to transform their procurement processes and who continue to grow alongside the company in their procurement orchestration journeys.

Commitment to Innovation and Customer Success

Since its founding in 2020, Zip has aimed to reinvent the slow, complex procurement process by delivering a consumer-grade user experience in B2B purchasing. Four years later, Zip has emerged as the world’s leading intake and procurement orchestration platform, empowering businesses to procure with speed, minimal risk, and optimal value.

By streamlining intake, sourcing, supplier management, purchase orders, and global payments in one flexible platform, Zip provides unparalleled transparency and control throughout the procurement lifecycle. Central to Zip’s mission is a commitment to customer success, ensuring that clients can deliver exceptional value and impact for their businesses.

Reflecting this commitment, Zip has launched a new video series, Procurement at Peak Performance, which features procurement leaders from top enterprises such as Barings, Benchling, Dollar Tree, Figma, Instacart, and Udemy. This series shares real stories from executives about their strategies for achieving operational excellence.

Driving Innovation in Procurement Technology

As an engineering, product, and design-led company, Zip has continuously pushed the boundaries of procurement technology since day one. Over the past year, Zip has successfully delivered 500 feature requests, implemented 20,000 code changes, and introduced several groundbreaking products, including Procure-to-Pay, Zip Premier, Zip’s Integration Platform, advanced Zip AI capabilities, and preferred supplier purchasing.

This holistic approach has transformed operations for industry leaders like Prudential, Snowflake, Instacart, and Northwestern Mutual, with Zip processing over $107 billion in spend, managing 3.9 million suppliers on its platform, and enabling its customers to save over $4.4 billion. Just as Salesforce revolutionized customer relationships and Workday transformed employee management, Zip is redefining how businesses interact with suppliers and manage spend.

Strategic Deployment of Funding

With the capital raised in this Series D funding round, Zip plans to deploy the investment strategically to:

1. Accelerate R&D: Focusing on building best-in-class procurement software entirely in-house, particularly the rapidly growing Procure-to-Pay product line adopted by major enterprises like Northwestern Mutual, Toast, and Coinbase.
2. Establish a Zip AI lab: To develop and deploy cutting-edge AI solutions that integrate seamlessly with legacy enterprise systems. Zip’s existing AI suite has already dramatically improved procurement processes across legal, security, finance, and IT teams.
3. Broaden global reach: Particularly in the EMEA region, where Zip has experienced over 200% growth in the past year. The company plans to leverage its new London office and expanded EMEA team to meet surging demand across key markets such as the UK, Germany, and France.

A Vision for the Future

As Zip reflects on its journey, the achievements stand out. In September, the company was recognized as the category creator and leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Spend Orchestration 2024 Vendor Assessment. At the recent Zip Forward event, Zip unveiled a significant brand transformation along with a range of powerful new innovations, gathering over 400 finance and procurement executives from leading companies.

Now, reaching this Series D milestone, Zip envisions unlocking numerous opportunities for its team, partners, and most importantly, its customers. As the company continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in procurement technology, it remains steadfast to its core vision: to orchestrate the flow of business, allowing companies, markets, and economies to have a greater impact on the world.