The company, which makes software to help governments find and participate in cooperative purchasing, has now raised about $4 million total in investment. In a blog post, CEO Mariel Reed wrote that the startup has seen an increase in activity during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“During this time, we’ve seen a more than 300% increase in users, who now use CoProcure from all fifty states,” Reed wrote. “We’ve also doubled the size of our team.”
Cooperative purchasing is a system where governments band together to negotiate better prices on procurements with vendors. Reed said the company hopes to make that process “Google-like” for governments.
That’s especially important, she said, in a time when governments are under stress to provide urgently needed goods and services to constituents fast.
“The coronavirus pandemic has irrevocably changed public purchasing: Government budgets already feel increased strain to serve their communities and community members will continue to depend even more critically on government services,” she wrote. “Businesses are counting on government customers as the private sector recovers. CoProcure has an important role to play in helping communities with limited resources work together to respond to these challenges and rebuild.”
The funding round was led by Neo, with Leadout Capital and angel investors also participating.
