Highlights:

  • Cogna’s platform comes equipped with a chatbot-style interface powered by large language models.
  • While traditional ERP platforms can take months to deploy, Cogna promises setup in as little as two weeks, thanks to its use of artificial intelligence to accelerate parts of the configuration process.

A U.K.-based enterprise resource planning startup, Cogna Ltd., has secured USD 15 million in new funding, the company announced recently.

The Series A round was led by Notion Capital, with contributions from Hoxton Ventures and Chalfen Ventures. This funding follows Cogna’s initial USD 4.75 million seed investment, closed just a few months earlier. The seed round saw involvement from Hermann Hauser, a notable tech entrepreneur who was instrumental in the founding of Arm Holdings plc.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms are comprehensive software suites that businesses use to manage their daily operations. These platforms typically include features for sales, marketing, procurement, regulatory compliance, and various other functions. Companies invest in ERP software primarily to simplify data management, such as facilitating the sharing of business information across different departments.

While traditional ERP platforms can take several months to deploy, Cogna promises setup times as short as two weeks. This faster deployment is partly due to the company’s use of artificial intelligence to accelerate certain aspects of the configuration process.

Cogna’s platform features a chatbot-like interface powered by large language models, allowing users to input natural language descriptions of the business tasks they want to complete more efficiently. Based on this input, the platform creates a customized software tool that can stream the specified tasks.

For instance, a customer could tell the platform that the accounting team is having difficulty determining the best way to allocate a budget across three application projects. In response, Cogna could create an analytics tool that allows users to simulate various budget allocation scenarios. Additionally, workers can use natural language commands to further customize the tools generated by the software.

Cogna’s platform promises to simplify more than just business planning tasks.

External documents, like contract bids from suppliers, are often formatted differently, making tasks such as detecting data entry errors more difficult. With Cogna, a company can set up a portal that enables suppliers and other third parties to submit documents in a consistent format.

Field service is another area that Cogna is focusing on. The company claims that organizations can use its platform to share information about malfunctioning equipment with the technicians assigned to repair it. In addition, Cogna’s ERP platform is suitable for a wide range of other use cases, including human resources, regulatory compliance, customer support, and more.

Many of Cogna’s clients are in asset-intensive industries like utilities, manufacturing, and construction. The company reports that its software has enabled some of these organizations to achieve over USD 10 million in annual cost savings.

Cogna is not the only ERP startup to recently secure venture funding. In August, Opkey raised USD 47 million in a Series A round for its software testing application. The tool helps businesses identify errors in ERP updates before deploying them to production.