SAN FRANCISCO — LightSource Labs Inc., an AI-native enterprise procurement platform, has emerged from stealth and announced $33 million in seed and Series A funding at a $130 million valuation. The round was co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from J2 Ventures. The platform is designed to modernize both strategic and direct material sourcing through the application of artificial intelligence.
This funding arrives as LightSource achieves considerable market traction, reporting a 10x increase in annual recurring revenue (ARR) over the preceding 18 months. The company has already secured contracts with major enterprises across various industries, including Yum! Brands, Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), Serta Simmons Bedding, Hello Fresh and Shure. With these funds, LightSource will scale its team, further enhance the platform’s capabilities, expand its reach into new sectors such as industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and ultimately solidify its position as a strategic data repository connecting buyers and sellers across the globe.
Despite the central role procurement plays in managing billions of dollars in enterprise spending, the industry has historically lagged in technological adoption, particularly within direct sourcing – the acquisition of materials directly used in producing a company’s products.
Approximately 70% of procurement teams do not use any software tools for sourcing. They continue to manage increasingly complex processes manually, relying on disparate information across thousands of emails, spreadsheets and randomly formatted invoices and contracts. LightSource is the first modern platform to finally deliver on the promise of digitalization for the core Direct and Strategic Indirect sourcing, which comprises up to 90% of the P&L.
“We want to make the easy things easier and the hard things possible by scaling our AI-powered solutions and converting procurement from a necessary evil to a critical business driver,” said Spencer Penn, co-founder and CEO of LightSource.
LightSource is designed as a next-generation platform that harnesses the power of AI to streamline the entire procurement process for both buyers and suppliers. For buyers, the platform aims to automate key tasks such as identifying potential suppliers, managing requests for quotes (RFQs), efficiently comparing bids and fostering seamless team collaboration. For suppliers, LightSource simplifies the process of reviewing RFQs and responding with competitive quotes, thereby facilitating new business acquisition.
LightSource’s AI capabilities for data-interoperability enables users to effortlessly standardize and compare quotes received in a multitude of formats, including emails, PDFs and spreadsheets, with granular visibility down to the Bill of Materials (BOM) level. Since 2024, over $1 billion in spend has been processed through LightSource’s platform, facilitating more than 1,100 sourcing events.
“LightSource has delivered faster decision-making and meaningful cost improvements,” said Roger Larsh, Chief Procurement Officer of RSCS, the supply chain arm of Yum! Brands. “The team has worked closely with us to understand our business, ensuring that the platform solves our current needs while proactively developing useful enhancements. We’ve seen strong adoption across our team thanks to easy usability and rapid time-to-value, and we’re proud to help LightSource lead the way transforming our industry.”
