Led by Pritzker Group Venture Capital (PGVC), with participation from previous investors Okapi Venture Capital, Fika Ventures, and Mucker Capital, the round of funding will enable the company to accelerate product development, grow the team from 30 to 75 employees by early 2020, and expand operations globally as the leader in Specification Data Management™ (SDM™) software.
“It’s hard to believe, but most of the critical data required to make, package, sell, and buy goods typically lives in spreadsheets or on employee hard drives,” said Matthew Wright, Specright’s founder and CEO. “Specright’s platform provides a foundation for all stakeholders to access specifications, collaborate in real-time, and improve business performance. We’re excited to drive this next wave of supply chain innovation,” Wright added.
Wright developed the concept after spending over 20 years in the packaging industry, both as an executive and owner of a packaging manufacturer, and having to deal with the inefficiencies and costs related to low quality specifications, or lack thereof, from customers.
Specright’s platform enables companies to digitize critical specifications such as product, packaging, formula, and ingredients to ensure data quality within a company and across its supply chain. Customers can then leverage data and workflows to create efficiencies, reduce costs, drive sustainability, ensure product quality, and more quickly develop new products.
Gabe Greenbaum, PGVC’s Los Angeles based Partner, who will be joining the board, has seen firsthand the inefficiencies and resulting negative impact on industries where there is a lack of supply chain and specification data.
“As investors with deep roots in the manufacturing and supply chain ecosystem, we’ve seen the pain and inefficiencies caused when business units, vendors, and suppliers aren’t on the same page due the traditional siloing of data,” Greenbaum said. “We believe Specright is creating a multibillion-dollar market within the packaging industry and beyond.”
This single source-of-truth also creates logical families of machines, packaging, raw materials, and ingredients of products at a deep data level to drive intelligence.
Once specifications are in Specright, the company leverages its industry knowledge and algorithms to automate recommendations or actions a company can take action to save money or improve operations. This focus on intelligence and recommendations is made possible by Specright’s core platform. It also signals the importance the company places on making data actionable for its customers.
Marc Averitt, a managing director at Okapi Venture Capital, has been part of Specright’s journey and has seen the product evolve.
“Over a short period of time, Specright has grown to serve a variety of functions across the supply chain, such as packaging, quality, procurement, marketing, and new product development,” Averitt said. “The company has grown a diverse customer base with both Fortune 100 companies and challenger brands taking advantage of its capabilities. We’re very excited to support their growth and help them expand their footprint,” Averitt added.
