Managing supply chains and procurement processes can pose a significant challenge for many mid-market companies that lack the resources to invest in complex systems like SAP or maintain extensive IT infrastructures. Didero, an early-stage startup, aims to simplify this process with an AI-powered tool designed to address these burdens.
Today, the company announced a $7 million seed investment alongside its emergence from stealth mode and the general availability of its product.
Product lead and co-founder Tim Spencer explained,
We are trying to build an end-to-end suite that allows procurement teams to manage their suppliers across a range of existing point solution markets.”
This comprehensive tool covers various tasks, including finding suppliers, negotiating contracts, managing purchase orders, generating invoices, and making payments, while also offering detailed analysis and handling background supplier management tasks.
Spencer highlighted that the product leverages AI to help mid-market companies compensate for their limited resources. Unlike large companies that can dictate terms to suppliers, smaller companies lack that leverage. AI can automate much of the workload, providing a significant advantage.
“One of the huge unlocks here, particularly for our wedge of mid-market manufacturers, is AI. Because in the pre-AI world, it was basically not possible to do a lot of these tasks [in an automated way],” Spencer said.
Didero employs a variety of AI models, including those from OpenAI and Google Gemini, tailored to specific tasks and requirements. The company is continually experimenting to determine the most suitable model for each function. “We’re using a lot of foundational models and APIs that are out there. We’re not creating our own foundational models, but we’re doing a lot of fine-tuning of some of the existing models,” explained CEO Tom Petit.
Additionally, Petit noted that Didero has developed a few highly specialized models for tasks such as extracting data from tables, purchase orders, and price lists—critical documents in the procurement process.
Spencer and co-founder Lorenz Pallhuber bring extensive supply chain expertise to the company. Spencer previously managed procurement at Markai, a startup he co-founded, while Pallhuber spent seven years at McKinsey advising Fortune 500 clients on supply chain and procurement software. Petit, with his technical background in AI and machine learning, also co-founded Landis, a startup that raised over $200 million to assist renters in obtaining mortgages.
Since its launch in December, Didero has been diligently developing its product. The $7 million seed round, which closed last month, was led by First Round Capital with participation from Construct Capital, AI Grant, Box Group, Company Ventures, and Conviction, along with contributions from industry angels.
