Cavela Raises $2 Million to Automate Product Sourcing for E-Commerce

AI-powered platform saves businesses 40% by optimizing matching and negotiation with suppliers

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cavela officially launches today to revolutionize the way brands and businesses source products, using AI-driven automation to connect them with premium manufacturers worldwide at optimal cost. At the same time, Cavela announced its $2 million funding round led by XYZ Venture Capital, with additional support from Propel Ventures and Go Global Ventures.

E-commerce tools like Shopify have made selling products easier than ever, but creating those products is still time-, labor-, and capital-intensive, requiring months of work, thousands of messages, and costly factory visits. Cavela solves this with AI agents that automate the steps of finding, negotiating, and coordinating with a network of premium suppliers around the world, reducing the process from 1,000 touch points to just 10 and saving hundreds of hours of work. By allowing them to engage with hundreds of suppliers at once, Cavela enables brands to access better supplier matches, and receive quotes that are, on average, 40% lower than self-sourcing.

"Creating custom products is difficult, but with recent developments in AI, it doesn't have to be," says Anthony Sardain, CEO of Cavela. "Large enterprises have dedicated teams to manage the complex process of product sourcing, but small and midsized businesses don't have that luxury. We're leveling the playing field, making it easier and more affordable for anyone to create custom products."

The Cavela team is uniquely positioned to tackle these challenges, drawing on their extensive experience in both procurement and AI technology. The core team has backgrounds at Stripe, Google, Amazon, and Disney. They also have manufacturing and procurement expertise from Primark and DS Smith, have run e-commerce brands, and are broadly international with strong connections to supplier hubs in Asia and Latin America.

Amid the continued boom in e-commerce and increasing pressure to build rapidly adaptable supply chains, modern sourcing solutions are in high demand. Cavela has already demonstrated that its AI can not only outperform conventional sourcing for brands across a wide range of product categories, but also make product sourcing more accessible, enabling even startups to easily source custom merchandise.

"The bottom line is that with Cavela we're cutting production costs on our core products by 35%," says Jordan Beaman, Founder of Western Welder Outfitting, a leading workwear brand. "Not only that, Cavela has also made it possible for us to quickly and easily expand our product line beyond our core offering."

With its recent capital infusion, Cavela is set to enhance the platform's capabilities and broaden its reach to more businesses. The company is focused on making product sourcing even easier, more transparent, and highly efficient — empowering businesses of all sizes to succeed in a competitive landscape.

"It's very rare that you come across a team like this one, with a cross section of AI and specific industry experience, capable of remaking that industry — in this case, e-commerce," says Ross Fubini, Managing Partner of XYZ Venture Capital, which led the round. "Cavela is going to have a huge impact on everyday operations of brands, startups, small companies, and more. But also have a broad, global impact on how products get made and distributed around the world. It's a magnitude of change on par with the advent of Shopify."

For more information, visit www.cavela.com.

Media contact: Camille Ricketts, [email protected] 

SOURCE Cavela