Chris Holman welcomes back Paula Macpherson, Executive Director of Velocity, Sterling Heights, and meets Cornel Ureche, Co-Founder/CEO DataISource, Washington Twp. MI.
Watch Cornel, Paula, and Chris discuss AI-powered procurement, a $2 million private investment and the company’s upcoming manufacturer pilot programs on the YouTube video shared below:
Cornel and Paula shared several points with Chris during their discussion.
- Can you remind the Michigan business community about Velocity?
Velocity has been working with DataISource for about a year and a half. What attracted you to this company, and what potential did you see in its technology and business model?
- Cornel, tell us about DataISource. What inspired you to start the company, and what are you working to accomplish with your AI-powered procurement platform, DataProcur?
Artificial intelligence is transforming how businesses operate. How does DataProcur use AI to help companies make better purchasing decisions, manage supply-chain risks and protect sensitive business information?
DataISource recently secured a $2 million private investment and is preparing to launch its first pilot programs with manufacturers. Cornel, what’s next for the company, and Paula, what does DataISource’s progress tell us about the opportunities for technology startups and entrepreneurs here in Macomb County?
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VELOCITY ACCELERATOR PROGRAM HELPS DATAISOURCE BUILD AI- POWERED PROCUREMENT PLATFORM
Macomb County startup secures $2 million in private investment and advances its DataProcur platform with coaching, strategy, funding and connections through Sterling Heights business accelerator
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — A Macomb County technology startup developing an artificial intelligence-powered platform to simplify and strengthen the procurement process is the latest company moving forward with support from Velocity’s business accelerator program.
DataISource, co-founded by CEO Cornel Ureche and CTO Bogdan Adrian Horobet, is developing DataProcur, a software-as-a-service platform designed to help companies manage and automate procurement from supplier identification and requests for quotes through negotiations, contract management, analytics and supply-chain risk monitoring.
The company has worked with Velocity for about a year and a half, receiving grant funding along with ongoing coaching, business strategy development and access to a growing network of resources and relationships.
“DataISource is a great example of the type of company we want to help through the Velocity accelerator. It is an innovative local business addressing a real challenge with the potential to grow and serve customers well beyond Macomb County,” said Paula Macpherson, executive director of Velocity.
“Funding can help a startup reach important milestones, but the value of an accelerator goes much further. We work alongside entrepreneurs to strengthen their strategy, challenge assumptions, make connections and help position their companies for sustainable growth.”
DataISource grew out of Ureche’s nearly three decades of experience in the automotive supply chain, where he saw firsthand how procurement teams often rely on manual spreadsheets, emails, disparate software systems and knowledge held by individual employees to manage complex purchasing decisions. He teamed with co-founder and CTO Bogdan Adrian Horobet – at his core a full-stack data scientist – who has spent the past decade leading projects and teams and building production AI and machine-learning
systems, most recently as a lead data scientist at With Intelligence, now part of
S&P Global.
A single product requiring ten purchased components, for example, could involve dozens of potential suppliers’ offers that must be collected, compared, negotiated and tracked. DataISource aims to bring those activities into a single platform, giving procurement teams greater visibility, while reducing repetitive manual work.
The company is building its platform around three primary areas: automating
procurement processes, improving supply-chain resilience and preserving
organizational knowledge. The system is designed to retain information from previous procurement activity so companies can build on past decisions and supplier relationships even as employees and teams change.
DataISource is also developing tools to help businesses identify potential supply-chain disruptions earlier. The platform is intended to monitor risks that could affect suppliers or transportation routes and help companies evaluate possible responses, including alternative suppliers or sourcing strategies.
Protecting sensitive business information is another priority. DataISource is developing a private AI environment designed to keep proprietary procurement and supplier information isolated rather than requiring companies to share sensitive data through public AI systems.
“We started DataISource because we saw an opportunity to solve problems
procurement teams deal with every day, including fragmented information, repetitive manual processes, supply-chain uncertainty and the loss of valuable knowledge when people leave an organization,” Ureche said. “Velocity has been an important part of turning that vision into a business. The coaching, strategy development and relationships have been especially valuable because they force us to think beyond simply building the technology and focus on building a company and a product that solves real customer problems.”
“Procurement runs on a company’s most sensitive data: its pricing, its suppliers, its negotiations,” said Bogdan Adrian Horobet, co-founder and CTO at Dataisource. “We build DataProcur around a private AI model that each company runs on its own, so that data never leaves their control or trains anyone else’s system. That’s what lets a manufacturer actually use AI on the work that matters most.”
Velocity, based in Sterling Heights, provides entrepreneurs and growing businesses in Macomb County with resources designed to help move companies from ideas to viable, scalable businesses. Through its accelerator and broader business programming, Velocity connects companies with coaching and mentorship, strategic planning, educational programming, funding opportunities and relationships with business leaders, potential partners and other resources.
For DataISource, that support has included regular coaching sessions, business and pricing strategy development, grant funding and opportunities to build relationships that could eventually lead to prospective customers and other strategic connections. The Velocity relationship is part of a broader network DataISource has assembled as it builds the company. DataISource also has also received support through NVIDIA Inception, AWS Active and J.P. Morgan’s Innovation Economy, providing access to technology infrastructure, development resources, business support and connections within the startup and investment communities.
DataISource is initially targeting companies with substantial procurement operations, particularly in manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, construction, food and chemicals. Its potential customers include businesses purchasing significant volumes of components, raw materials and semi-finished goods and managing a high volume of supplier requests and purchasing decisions.
A private investor has committed $2 milion as the company’s first round of funding and DataISource expects more to follow as it grows. As it prepares to launch its first pilots, DataISource is lining up a group of manufacturers to take part. Spots are limited to a handful of partners across its target industries. Manufacturers interested in a pilot can reach the company at info@dataisource.com.
DataProcur addresses procurement today, but the company’s roadmap is broader. The same private AI can support the rest of a manufacturer’s operations, and DataISource plans to extend it into strategy, operations, sales and finance. Over time, the company intends to connect the full chain, from a product’s first concept to its finished form, so a manufacturer runs on a single system it owns rather than many that work in isolation.
About Velocity
Velocity is a Sterling Heights-based business resource and accelerator serving entrepreneurs and growing companies in Macomb County. Through business acceleration, coaching, educational programming, strategic resources, funding opportunities and connections to regional business networks, Velocity helps companies develop, commercialize ideas and pursue sustainable growth.
About DataISource
DataISource is a Macomb County technology company developing DataProcur, an AI-powered procurement platform designed to bring sourcing, supplier management, procurement analytics, supplychain risk management and organizational knowledge into a unified environment. Co-founded by Cornel
Ureche and Bogdan Adrian Horobet, DataISource is focused on helping procurement teams reducemanual processes, improve decision-making, strengthen supply-chain resilience and protect valuable business information. Learn more at www.dataisource.com
