Philly tech start-up wants to fix the broken system of procurement with a new tool

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Philadelphia native Tiffanie Stanard saw an opportunity in what she found to be a broken system that drew the ire of both institutional buyers and sellers alike: procurement.

“It doesn’t matter the industry, everybody hates procurement,” she said. “Our goal is to create a better experience for buyers and vendors.”

Stanard has worked as both a manager of vendors for large corporations like gasoline giant Sunoco and as a consultant, so she’s seen both sides of the issue. So about seven years ago, she began building the technology start-up Stimulus, which makes purchasing easier for large corporations, government agencies, hospitals and universities.

Now she leverages artificial intelligence to help buyers and sellers become more efficient — such as building metrics into how successful a potential relationship might be.

“You don’t know if [a buyer] just purchased from your competitor. You don’t know they don’t plan to buy what you’re selling for another two years. It’s just a lot of wasted time,” she said. “We’re working on the supplier side to give them more insights than they normally have when they’re trying to reach out to a major company.”

The technology tool also matches vendors to potential subcontractors, which can help larger businesses trying to meet historically underrepresented business goals set by institutions in contracting.

The start-up has raised over $4 million so far and employs 10 people. It was selected to receive an equity investment from a new fund created by The Enterprise Center, a local community development organization that helps small businesses.

The Enterprise Center Capital Corp. is a registered Community Development Financial Institution that recently invested $250,000 in six fast-growing businesses, totaling $1.5 million.

Three start-ups are based in Philadelphia, including Pound Cake, an inclusive cosmetic brand, and WealthMore, a wealth advising app and virtual savings club.

The other start-ups are Bon AppéSweet, a date-sweetened chocolate business, TracFlo, which sells technology for the construction industry, and Wellthi, a mobile banking app.

“We know that providing direct access to capital is the most effective way to aid minority business owners and entrepreneurs when building their legacies,” said Ian Lawrence, leader of the Enterprise Center Capital Corp., in a news release.

Stanard said she never imagined she would work in such an industry. Growing up in Philadelphia, she became a marketing consultant early in her career, updating websites in her community. When she first started at Sunoco, she was the youngest person in her department.

For some of her success, she credits shifting attitudes about virtual meetings because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Investors used to require tech start-ups to meet in person. Now, many are more willing to chat online.

“You don’t have to move to San Francisco or New York,” she said. “So that’s a good thing about what has happened over the years of people being more digital and understanding you can be remote and close deals.”