With an eye on expanding its global footprint of manufacturer partners as well as strengthening its team and platform capabilities, supply chain technology company Silq said it has raised $17.6 million in Series A funding.
The company offers a variety of sourcing solutions that increase supply chain efficiency. “Silq’s purpose-built platform provides apparel, footwear, home goods and accessory brands with transparency into real-time production progress,” the company said in a statement. “With zero implementation required, Silq has digitized the manufacturing supply chain, improving product quality and accelerating speed-to-market.”
The funding round was co-led by F-Prime Capital and Flexport Ventures. Eight Roads Ventures India also participated along with existing investors Surface Ventures, Forum Ventures and other angels.
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Sliq said, as part of the round, Ben Gorman of F-Prime Capital will join the board of directors. “The funding will be used to expand Silq’s global footprint of factory partners, grow its team of trained experts, including on-site merchandisers and quality inspectors across Asia and strengthen Silq’s technology platform, equipping brands with crucial production data and updates,” the company said.
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Ram Radhakrishnan, chief executive officer of Silq, said the company’s mission is to build “an information highway that makes transactions efficient, fast and reliable for all stakeholders in the supply chain.”
“At Silq, we are solving the hardest supply chain problem of them all, providing real-time visibility from the factory floor by leveraging people and technology,” the CEO said. “We augment the capabilities of Silq experts with an intuitive mobile application that enables them to share updates with brands with poise and precision.”
Gorman said over the past two years, apparel brands “new and old have faced unprecedented challenges in delayed timelines and cost uncertainty. Consumers have felt the pain of supply chain delays as items from their favorite brands are either taking longer than expected to arrive or are simply out of stock.”
Gorman said that more up-to-date “data feeds, improved quality control and higher levels of collaboration are needed to meet rapidly shifting consumer demand.” He said Silq offers a unique combination of a powerful software platform and on-the-ground expertise that “positions them to succeed in adding efficiency and transparency to the manufacturing process and the effusive praise from their customers showcases the value they bring every step along the way.”
Silq has on-site merchandisers and quality inspectors who are vetted, trained, and certified by the company. “They work as an extension of a brand’s product development and production team, making scheduled visits to the factory to track production milestones, perform inspections and communicate updates via Silq’s proprietary technology platform,” Silq said. “Brands use this data to improve forecasting and planning, guaranteeing landed cost by enabling them to book freight up to 30 days in advance.”