In a bid to revolutionize the way companies manage their supply chains, Pendulum has secured a $22 million funding round to further develop its AI-powered prediction platform. The investment, which includes $11 million in non-dilutive capital and $11 million in venture capital, will enable Pendulum to scale its operations and expand its customer base.

The supply chain industry has faced unprecedented challenges in recent years, with the COVID-19 pandemic exposing the fragility of legacy global supply chains. More recently, the rise of on-demand retail has created new pressures, with companies like Shein and Temu constantly introducing new products to meet rapidly changing consumer demands. Pendulum's platform is designed to help companies navigate this new landscape by connecting fragmented internal data sources, such as inventory, procurement, and pricing, into a single AI-powered model.

According to Pendulum's co-founder and CEO, Benjamin Fels, the company's platform can help retailers improve their margins and reduce waste by accurately predicting and optimizing supply and demand. "The single most powerful thing you can do as a retailer to become more sustainable is absolutely nail supply versus demand," Fels said. "If you know everything you make somebody wants, you are going to dramatically decarbonize your operations, and you are going to increase at massive scale your margins."

Fels' vision for Pendulum was inspired by his experience on the derivatives trading floor, where he oversaw teams building AI-enabled prediction products for supply and demand in the financial sector. He launched Macro-Eyes in 2013 alongside Suvrit Sra at MIT to explore the application of this approach in the supply chain world. After years of research and development, the company rebranded as Pendulum in 2023 to commercialize its technology and raise institutional capital.

Pendulum's platform has already attracted a range of high-profile customers, including Victoria Secret-owned Adore Me and the U.S. Department of Defense. The company's technology has been deployed across retail, healthcare, and national defense industries, demonstrating its versatility and potential for widespread adoption.

In addition to the funding news, Pendulum has also announced the appointment of Jean-François Gagné, co-founder of Element AI, as its chief strategy and product officer. Gagné brings a wealth of experience in AI and supply chain optimization, having sold Element AI to ServiceNow in 2020 for $230 million. Fels praised Gagné's insight and expertise, saying, "After multiple three-hour straight conversations, it just clicked that JF needed to lead the product vision, and needed to lead strategy around how we take this to scale."

The supply chain technology sector has seen significant investment in recent years, driven in part by the pandemic's exposure of existing supply chain vulnerabilities. Pendulum's algorithmic approach, built on a decade of research and development, sets it apart from other players in the market. As Fels noted, "People have been trying to optimize supply chains for 5,000 years. Over the last two or three years, the volatility and the uncertainty both around supply and around demand, has just hit every retailer, every organization that's exposed to supply chain, with tremendous force. We felt that really required a different kind of response."

With its latest funding round and the appointment of Gagné, Pendulum is well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for supply chain optimization solutions. As the company continues to scale and expand its customer base, it will be interesting to see how its AI-powered platform can help companies navigate the complexities of the on-demand economy.