Why This Matters to Distributors: Augment’s move reflects a broader shift — AI platforms built for logistics are expanding into distribution with more integrated offerings.
Augment, a supply chain AI company that builds productivity software for logistics operations, is acquiring Merlin, an AI firm focused on wholesale distribution, and will integrate its technology into Augie, Augment’s core platform.
The acquisition pushes Augment deeper into wholesale distribution. Backed by $110 million from investors including Redpoint Ventures, 8VC and Applico Capital.
Merlin was founded by Alex Moazed, founder and CEO of Applico and founding partner of Applico Capital. Moazed joins Augment as president of wholesale distribution alongside Merlin co-founders Nick Johnson, managing partner at Applico Capital, and John Schumacher, who previously served as vice president of product management and data science at Grainger.
Augment said Merlin has been collaborating with customers representing more than $20 billion in combined distributor revenue, including Ewing Outdoor Supply, Insco Distributing, Brooks Safety Solutions and Reece.
The combined platform is designed to manage the quote-to-cash process, including order entry from email, phone, text, PDF, supplier coordination; freight management; and access to internal product and operating data. Augment said customer data remains isolated within each company and is not used to train shared AI models.
“For the past decade, we’ve seen firsthand the challenges facing B2B distributors. AI is finally ready to solve them, but no provider was meeting the needs of enterprise wholesale distributors,” Moazed said.
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