Imagine trying to keep 10,000 ingredients or parts and their suppliers organized using email and spreadsheets. This is the reality for many companies operating in industries like manufacturing, automotive, pharmaceutical and consumer goods contributing to nearly $33 trillion in global trade. When it comes time to renegotiate prices, solve for recalls or build the next generation of products, companies relying on legacy processes and technologies are at a major disadvantage. 

Gartner projects that 50% of supply chain companies worldwide employ artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to run operations. It’s worth noting, however, that procurement and sourcing departments within both leading and pioneering companies in the space still largely rely on legacy solutions like SAP or spreadsheets to run things. A key reason: They can’t upgrade legacy technology if new solutions don't meet their specific needs or solve for nuanced complexities at scale.

For example, it’s common for an automotive OEM to maintain a roster of 18,000 suppliers that provide 20,000 parts – as big as a chassis and as small as the knob of a dipstick – specific to each vehicle class. They also likely have multiple ERP, SaaS and P2P systems in operation. They're trying to keep it all organized and moving with near-analog solutions or a legacy software platform like SAP out of pure necessity, rather than preference, because historically, there hasn’t been a better solution.

That’s a problem because relying on email-and-spreadsheet workflows that require manual updates can generate infinite complexities and mistakes. These can occur within OEMs and smaller manufacturers at the intersection of product design, manufacturing and procurement.

Even innovators in industries like chemicals, manufacturing, industrial food, retail and automotive remain stuck in the spreadsheets-and-inbox method of sourcing, procurement and operations.

Within one organization, it’s common for these three groups to apply a different lens to picking suppliers, which regularly results in significant inefficiencies, suboptimal outcomes and multiple departments using budgets for the same or very similar products.

This outdated approach leaves companies vulnerable to disruptions in the global trade landscape, such as the recent wave of tariffs, which have introduced significant uncertainty and complexity for businesses.

Procurement professionals are now grappling with increased costs for raw materials and components, forcing them to re-evaluate sourcing strategies and potentially absorb or pass on price hikes to consumers. Similarly, tariffs have also disrupted established supply chains, leading to potential delays and shortages. In some cases, companies may need to identify alternative suppliers from regions not impacted by tariffs, adding another layer of complexity to procurement processes.

These disruptions underscore the need for more sophisticated procurement software that can provide real-time visibility into supply chains, enable scenario planning and facilitate agile decision-making in response to changing trade policies.

LightSource co-founder Spencer Penn knows these challenges firsthand. He was instrumental in bringing Tesla Model 3 to life and to market. The idea for LightSource came in part from his time spent at Tesla trying to find an end-to-end procurement and sourcing solution. In Spencer’s words, “I sourced millions of parts for the Model 3 with email chains that contained hundreds of messages. As we neared production, I knew there had to be a better way.” After looking for something on the market and coming up empty-handed, he knew he had to build it himself.

At the time, his co-founder, Idan Mintz, was working in stealth at GoogleX with similar inclinations that there had to be something better.

After extensive market research, the co-founders identified both legacy and new solutions for buyers and suppliers, but they all came with drawbacks. Solutions were either tangential (e.g. a CRM or ERP platform jimmy-rigged for sourcing or procurement), or in need of a modern upgrade. Following a fortuitous introduction, Spencer and Idan decided to partner together to deliver that end-to-end platform to the world. Enter: LightSource.

Meet the Founders

How It Works

LightSource offers a comprehensive, AI-powered solution that accelerates product development cycles, drives cost savings and improves supplier relationships.

LightSource is designed for both buyers and suppliers. For buyers, LightSource takes out the manual work of gathering technical requirements, finding credible suppliers, sending requests for quotes and making the best sourcing decisions while collaborating with your team. From a supplier’s perspective, LightSource makes it easy to review requests for quotes, enabling rapid responses to win business and quickly find new sales and margin-improvement opportunities.

Adopting LightSource boosts operational efficiency and efficacy at scale while enabling companies to swiftly buy quality parts and components at cost-efficient prices from rigorously vetted vendors. By the numbers:

• Over $1 Billion in spend has already been processed through LightSource since 2024
• Over 1,100 sourcing projects & events have been awarded through LightSource
• LightSource customers have saved an average of 5% savings per RFQ
• LightSource reduces RFQ cycle times by 30-50% using features like re-sourcing, revision history, and automated analysis
• Actively used by over 5,000 companies in over 40 countries across 4 continents

One of LightSource’s biggest differentiators is its AI capabilities for data-interoperability. With LightSource, buyers can quickly obtain quotes from dozens of suppliers (some of whom may send the quote in an email, PDF or spreadsheet) and standardize all relevant supplier, sourcing and pricing data to quickly and easily compare quotes all the way down to a BOM view.

According to Idan, “We’re working to deliver a platform that nukes the use of outdated software, reliance on analog digital systems and legacy problems plaguing procurement and sourcing. In order to do this, we need to deliver solid UX while unlocking data interoperability and AI-powered functionality that can be easily mobilized by buyers, suppliers and everyone that touches sourcing and procurement.”

What’s Next

Spencer and Idan have grand plans for LightSource to become the OS for procurement and sourcing on a global scale.

A majority of LightSource’s customers operate within six domains: automotive, aerospace & defense, chemicals, consumer electronics, retail & apparel and industrial food. In fact, powerful OEMs like Bombardier and Ford, direct-to-consumer food providers like HelloFresh, retail companies like Serta Simmons or Canada Goose and supply chain consulting giants like McKinsey put their trust in LightSource today.

That list of prominent, innovative and modernizing customers will continue to grow. To do that, Spencer and Idan will focus on scaling teams, shipping tech upgrades and boosting customer acquisition through industry engagement to bring LightSource to procurement teams everywhere.

Long-term, they’ll continue to expand sourcing and procurement value across current and new sectors like industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals, apply AI to improving workflows from RFQ to delivery and be able to provide a higher level of detail on suppliers. LightSource will aim to become an OS and a strategic data repository that helps buyers and sellers connect, do business and scale their operations to meet intense demand within budget and across markets.

There are massive opportunities across departments, industries and global sectors where legacy software and analog systems reign supreme. We believe that LightSource will not only replace manual digital systems in markets around the world, but use AI and other technology to streamline sprawling and high-intensity procurement and sourcing behind society’s most innovative product lines, manufacturing operations and supply chains.

The vision is simple, as Spencer explained: “We want to make the easy things easier and the hard things possible by scaling our AI-powered solutions and converting procurement from a necessary evil to a critical business driver.”