B2B distributors are being squeezed by competitors and neglected by the venture capital community. VCs have focused on investing in B2B marketplaces to disrupt the distributors – including a $1 billion and $150 million VC fund from Amazon and The Home Depot, respectively. In addition to Amazon and The Home Depot trying to disintermediate distributors, now, manufacturers are turning up the heat, as well.
Just last week, Schneider Electric invested in a CRM contractor tool startup called Kojo; this follows a previous investment into RenoRun – an Instacart for same-day delivery of job site construction materials. We’ve also seen manufacturers like Hilti acquire Fieldwire for $300 million in 2021 and just this past summer, Stanley Black & Decker acquired Msuite, a construction tech startup providing software tools to contractors.
B2B distributors command over $8 trillion in reasons as to why the tech community should focus on helping distributors as opposed to solely focusing on disruption. The Innovators Summit, the NAW’s inaugural technology conference, seeks to bring the best and brightest tech innovators in wholesale distribution together with executives at leading distributors.
Collectively, these tech companies have raised over $2 billion in investor capital. Some are marketplaces, or SaaS companies. Some provide software to contractors. Many create software specifically designed to help distributors.
The tech companies will present in a closed-door environment without media present. A “no fluff” zone. And, if you like what you hear, distributors can use our scheduling service at the conference to book additional time for a private, 1:1 meeting.
Get more details or register now for the Innovators Summit.
Here’s a look at some of the companies you can expect to meet.
Leading Marketplaces
Distributors can partner with leading marketplaces in non-threatening ways and also learn from their way of doing business.
B2B marketplace CEO and co-founder of Xometry (NYSE: XMTR), Randy Altschuler will talk about their efforts to bring back manufacturing to the United States and their expansion efforts. With a $2.5 billion market cap, Xometry is the biggest, public B2B marketplace in the U.S.
They recently acquired Thomasnet expanding into a myriad of adjacent verticals. Xometry’s core marketplace connects over 5,000 machine shops in the U.S. to make custom-made parts for NASA, BMW and others. Now, the company is expanding into handling full-production volumes, adjacent verticals and value-added services like financing and digital tools for manufacturers.
Kevin Weadick, President of Zoro, has added over 7 million SKUs to Zoro’s online catalog in just the past five years. Zoro’s revenue is growing at 20% year over year to over $1 billion, from just $500 million in 2017. Kevin and the Zoro team are actively looking to partner with distributors to help them reach a new audience of small and medium-sized businesses.
We also have software companies presenting that help distributors launch their own marketplace from scratch like Mirakl Co-founder Adrien Nussenbaum and Nautical Commerce CEO Ryan Lee.
Mirakl is worth over $4 billion and has raised nearly $1 billion in equity capital.
Tech Enablers
Another participant at the conference are tech startups that will help modernize and digitize a distributor’s core business.
Balance and Resolve are the leading B2B fintech providers that are powering instant-decision net payment terms and facilitating seamless B2B payments. They have over $500 million in debt facilities and have raised over $100 million in equity capital.
Curri is a leading last-mile logistics marketplace, like Uber for last-mile logistics or “hot shots.” They are working with a number of mid-sized and large distributors, as well as marketplaces to provide last-mile fulfillment, including heavy products.
Drive My Way and WorkStep are helping distributors source, hire and retain truck drivers and warehouse workers. They have their own networks of labor, as well as tools to help optimize your hiring process and workflow.
Recurrency is solving ERP connectivity problems – enabling distributors to get easier and better access to the data in their ERPs.
Proton is applying artificial intelligence to ensure sales reps never miss a sales opportunity. Their omnichannel tool personalizes product recommendations for customers, while identifying go-together items, substitutes, items due to reorder, at-risk customers and more. How could you better activate and train your thousands of sales reps? Talk to Proton.
Building a Culture of Innovation
The best part is that this isn’t even the full list of our speakers and presenting companies – in addition to tech companies, we have keynote speakers and panelists from leading B2B distributors. This includes Kathy Mazzarella, CEO of Graybar – as well as speakers from companies including MSC Industrial, Benco Dental and others.
The distributor executives will speak about how to create a company culture that promotes innovation. If you find a great tech partnership opportunity, it’s hard for large wholesalers to execute effectively. These new digital tools and business models require a different form of collaboration and support from the enterprise.
I hope you’ll join us! The Innovators Summit is Nov. 2-4, 2022, in Chicago. Get more details or register now for the Innovators Summit.
Alex Moazed is the Founder and CEO of Applico. He founded Applico in 2009 when he was 20 years old and originally funded the company with his own credit cards.
Alex co-authored the best-selling book, Modern Monopolies, which defines how the platform business model has come to dominate the 21st century economy. His weekly podcast, Winner Take All, picks up from the groundwork laid by Modern Monopolies, giving viewers an insider point-of-view on what’s really happening as disruptive startups, traditional enterprises, and nations around the world rise up to challenge the oligarchy that is big tech.
In his role as CEO, he works directly with Fortune 500 C-suites and boards to help them partner with, invest in, and acquire platform businesses.
Alex is a graduate of Babson College, Choate Rosemary Hall, and Greenwich Country Day School.