It’s a match made in procurement heaven.
Bedrock, a St. Petersburg, Florida-based startup, announced today that it is acquiring Protoco. The all-stock deal brings together two procurement software companies headquartered in St. Petersburg.
Bedrock is a “supplier enablement solution” to simplify payments, minimize risk, and reduce onboarding time for teams bringing on new suppliers and vendors. Protoco, which streamlines the RFP (request for proposal) process, helps companies set up and analyze new vendor bids in the earlier stages before a tool like Bedrock comes into play. Together, the two companies make up the two halves of the procurement process.
Following the acquisition, Bedrock’s supplier management solution will integrate Procoto’s RFP (request for proposal) automation to form one complete procure-to-pay platform.
Hypepotamus has covered Protoco over the years as its grown from a Y Combinator graduate to a venture-backed startup. Founder and CEO Michael Otis said that the acquisition is a natural progression for the company.
“We always envisioned Procoto as a solution to a specific portion of the broader procurement cycle,” Otis added in a press statement. “By joining Bedrock, our now collective customers have immediate access to a more holistic platform for their entire procure-to-pay process.”
BEHIND THE DEAL
Bedrock’s Founder Osama Sabbah and Protoco’s Founder Michael Otis told Hypepotamus that they first met each other over two years ago after Sabbah moved Bedrock’s headquarters to St. Petersburg. As one of a small group of procurement startup leaders in the city, the two hit it off quickly.
Initially, the conversation was about figuring out ways to work together, Otis told Hypepotamus, since Protoco had the “front end” capabilities while Bedrock had the back-end expertise.
Otis said the deal is “largely a technology acquisition.” The rest of the Protoco team found new jobs at other companies before the acquisition was officially announced. Otis will stay on as an advisor as Bedrock looks to do a “soft release” of its updated platform that includes Protoco’s technology in the next three months.
Bedrock has Fortune 1000 clients and has one million active suppliers in its database. Sabbah said that Bedrock is looking to build out a supplier marketplace to make it easier for companies to search for the suppliers they need. It is also looking to pilot additional services aimed at enhancing data verification across critical areas such as ESG, cybersecurity, compliance, supply chain, and international banking verification.
ABOUT THE FOUNDERS
Michael Otis, worked at Atlanta tech darlings Rubicon and STORD before founding Protoco in 2019. After graduating from the popular San Francisco accelerator Y Combinator, Protoco was the first investment of local VC TampaBay.Ventures after its inception in 2021.
Sabbah has made his mark across the startup scene, founding facial recognition and software development companies before founding Bedrock in 2018.
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Featured photo provided by Bedrock
