Knowde, a B2B digital marketplace and ecommerce technology provider, is out to bring the chemical industry into the broad advantages of digital commerce. And a growing variety of investment firms are backing its strategy.
By accelerating digitization, we are able to impact all downstream industries.
Ali Amin-Javaheri, founder and CEO
Knowde
Ali Amin-Javaheri, CEO, Knowde
This week, Knowde secured $60 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its total funding to this point to $175 million.
“The chemical industry is the basis of all innovation,” says founder and CEO Ali Amin-Javaheri. “Every physical product is created from chemistry. By accelerating digitization, we are able to impact all downstream industries.”
Knowde says it’ll use the brand new funding to develop latest features for its AI-backed master data management, or MDM, technology platform, which “automates data organization and enrichment” for suppliers listing their products through Knowde’s marketplace platform or their very own web sites. It says it’ll also use the funding to develop additional vertical applications, which it hasn’t yet publicly identified.
Firms using Knowde’s technology say a most important advantage is using Knowde’s technology to digitize and manage their complex product data to assist buyers find and buy the chemicals — or combos of them — that they need for their very own manufacturing or other purposes.
“Our Knowde storefront gives us latest tools to succeed in and interact more effectively with current and future customers,” says Serge Karakash, chief operating officer of Kalustyan Corp., which supplies specially treated herbs and spices to the food industry.
Distributor Quadra launches website with Knowde technology
Other corporations use Knowde’s MDM platform and customer experience technology on their very own web sites. Quadra Corp., an ingredients and chemicals distributor, recently launched a brand new corporate website with a searchable product portfolio powered by Knowde’s MDM system and customer experience platform.
Anne Marie Infilise, president and CEO, Quadra Corp.
“With a various product portfolio of over 5,000 products, we wanted an industry-leading AI-driven tool that allowed us to efficiently manage our product information,” Anne Marie Infilise, Quadra’s president and CEO, said in a press release. “Moreover, we wanted a full-featured, end-to-end solution that offered our customers the most recent tools to enhance their entire online journey. Our digital transformation is thoughtfully designed with our customers and suppliers on the forefront, and this latest launch marks one other significant step in creating a strong and intuitive user experience.”
Founded in 2017, Knowde’s technology platform now serves greater than 8,000 suppliers of chemicals, ingredients and polymers. They include corporations starting from chemicals giant BASF to specialty suppliers like Ecomass Technologies, which develops, manufactures, and markets “high-density engineered thermoplastics” designed to supply the burden and physical properties of metal but with the design and production flexibility of injection-molded plastics.
The $60 million funding round was led by Blue Cloud Ventures, Point72 Private Investments, and Socium Ventures. Existing investors, including Sequoia Capital, also participated.
“The chemical and ingredient industry has the potential to immensely profit from digitization,” said Dan Gwak, managing partner at Point72 Private Investments. “We imagine Knowde has built technology and capabilities which can be well positioned to tackle the challenges of organizing this industry.”
“It’s rare to partner with a founder and team driving innovation in a large, underserved industry,” added Blue Cloud Ventures founder and managing partner Rami Rahal.
Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. [email protected].
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