Matchory makes global supply chain transparent

German start-up Matchory developed a tool that allows companies to find and compare suppliers quickly and easily. “Companies can also list their existing suppliers and ask the tool to come up with alternatives that might be cheaper or better,” says co-founder and CEO Aiko Wiegand (pictured).

Companies are outsourcing production and buying from suppliers around the world. But how do you find those suppliers? And how do you know whether a particular supplier from China or India, for example, meets your selection criteria? That is why Matchory has developed a solution in the form of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based database that now includes more than 14 million companies. These are manufacturing companies that can make components, for example, but also suppliers of raw materials or companies that produce consumer products on behalf of customers.

The supplier market is very opaque, notes Wiegand. “In the initial phase of Matchory, we travelled to Asia to gain more insight into the local market. Then you find out how laborious searching for and selecting a supplier actually is. This is still largely a manual process. Then the idea of automating this and making the supply chain more transparent actually came naturally to us.” Together with his co-founders, he developed a tool that uses AI and scraping technology to extract information from all kinds of sources very quickly and allows buyers to make selections easily.

According to Wiegand, one of the tool’s strengths is that users can use self-selected keywords to refine their search results. “We use machine learning to continuously improve our search results. Companies can also list their existing suppliers and ask the tool to come up with alternatives that might be cheaper or better.” The tool can be used standalone but can also be linked to an ERP, for example, via APIs.

Compare and evaluate suppliers

Matchory’s website lists major reference companies such as Bosch and Jungheinrich. Another company using the sourcing tool is DMG Mori, a large manufacturer of metalworking machines. “With Matchory, we have made our supplier market transparent,” states chief procurement officer Timo Rickermann. “I now know much faster which suppliers exist and can also compare and evaluate them directly.” His colleague Mario Hellmund adds: “The big difference from searching the internet yourself is that with Matchory, you get to the results much faster, and you can also further refine and filter the results immediately.”

The German start-up is currently on a roll. The company was named Cool Vendor by analyst firm Gartner last year and received an investment budget of €3 million. Matchory now employs 19 people and operates from Munich and Frankfurt. CEO Wiegand concludes: “What I have learned over the past few years is that, as a start-up, you have to stay focused on your core solution and listen carefully to customer feedback, so that’s what we will continue to do.”