Stimulus, a PA-based relationship intelligence startup has recently raised $2.5M in a seed funding round led by Black Ops VC, with participation from Genius Guild, Morgan Stanley, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, REFASHIOND Ventures, Bronze Valley, The BFM Fund, Plain Sight Capital and Penn Medicine – Wharton Fund for Health.
Founded in 2017 by Tiffanie Stanard, Stimulus is a relationship intelligence (SaaS) platform that combines data insights, relationship-building tools, and a proprietary score to help companies make the best sourcing, procurement, and purchasing decisions while optimizing, nurturing, and growing their supplier ecosystems. The Stimulus Score evaluates suppliers to provide an objective view of performance, which provides a 360-degree view for buyers to engage better with current or future vendors.
The purpose of the company is to help businesses in developing honest, transparent relationships that lead to better business outcomes. It makes it easier for businesses to select the most suitable suppliers. It enables decision-makers to make the best purchasing decisions possible in order to build a reliable ecosystem for their organization.
“You have exposure from household names to smaller businesses run by underrepresented founders,” said Tiffanie Stanard. “It’s going from discovery to matching in real-time.”
“We met the investors in our seed round through our founder network and our current investors making a referral. We have a great group as they understand the procurement and supply chain space.”
The funds will be used to develop the Stimulus Platform, hire in three areas: engineering, data, and sales, and expand partnerships with companies that share the goal of forming relationships with their suppliers and diversifying their supply chain.