B2B procurement platform created by former SalmonChile executive raises US$7 million and seeks to grow

With the aim of increasing transparency and competition in the tendering processes of the salmon industry, WhereEX was founded five years ago in Puerto Varas. A business procurement platform based on the use of artificial intelligence.

Behind the initiative are Felipe Manterola and Juan Carlos Hurtado. The former is the former general manager of SalmonChile and the latter is linked to telecommunications investment projects. They detected a need in large companies to digitise their supply processes.

We met in Puerto Varas and realised that in the salmon industry there were several needs and one of them was that companies could not reach all suppliers. This meant that they could not access the best options, so we wanted to solve that gap where there are a lot of resources committed. There was also a lack of transparency in procurement', says Felipe Manterola.

This gave rise to the idea of developing a technology that would address the transaction costs of acquiring companies. Generating greater competition, transparency and digitalisation in a process that traditionally tends to be very bureaucratic. WherEX consists of a platform for B2B procurement that connects every requirement of a firm with all possible supply using artificial intelligence as a basis.

We started with the salmon industry and by the first year we had practically 80% of the sector working with WherEX,' says Manterola.

Following rapid growth, the founders realised that the potential of the initiative was much greater and that it could be used in other industries. Today they work with around 177 companies in a variety of industries, ranging from agriculture to mass consumption.

Manterola highlights that the startup allows companies to generate savings of between 5% and 15% of their costs. This is because the platform triples the number of bidders in the bidding matrix. We have clients who have saved a million dollars in the first two months by developing highly competitive processes that break the status quo'.

New capital

The startup recently closed a successful US$7 million Series A investment round. The round was led by Chilean impact investment and venture capital firm Kayyak Ventures. International funds such as FJ Labs, Jaguar Ventures and Tuesday Capital also participated.

With this uprising, they seek to continue with their internationalisation plan, which began in 2020 with their arrival in Peru. This year they entered two of the largest markets in Latin America: Colombia and Mexico. Part of the team even moved to Monterrey to set up a new operations centre. From there they operate with companies linked to industries such as manufacturing and mass consumption. By the end of the year we plan to increase the amounts transacted in Peru, Mexico and Colombia by more than 300%, and to have more than 60 clients in the North American country. By next year we expect to reach US$ 2 billion in transactions globally,' says Juan Carlos Hurtado.

Read the news in El Mercurio