Cohesia Corporation Receives $16 Million In Venture Funding
DAYTON, Ohio--March 5, 2001--GE Equity and Blue Chip Venture Company Back Cohesia's e-Specification
Software with a Combination of Strategic and Follow-On Investments
Cohesia Corporation today announced the completion of venture financing totaling $16 million to fund further expansion of IntelliDoc(R), the first technology to allow buyers to create and distribute e-specifications across their supply chain. For the first time, buyers and suppliers of complex, make-to-order products can conduct business online while reducing cost and improving quality for both the customer and the supplier.
Cohesia develops advanced application software that integrates specifications with enterprise resource planning and e-commerce solutions. Product specifications are an essential part of the infrastructure for direct, make-to-order supply chains. Presently, the process of adhering to product specifications is manual and open to interpretation errors at every step in the process. Cohesia's IntelliDoc(R) uniquely solves the complications of this process by automating the application of specifications in their supply chains.
Following successful implementations in the metals industry, Cohesia is extending this expertise to Internet-based aerospace and automotive supply chains and trade exchanges. "After more than a decade of focusing on internal automation and planning initiatives, manufacturers are looking for ways to unlock and capture additional value from their supply chain," said Dan Z. Sokol, President and CEO. "Through the use of IntelliDoc e-specifications, our customers can shorten order response times and lower costs while actually reducing defects and increasing product quality."
B2B e-commerce is expected to top $6.3 trillion by the year 2005, representing 42 percent of all corporate spending. "In order for make-to-order manufacturers to be profitable in Internet-based commerce, they require technology that can read, interpret and manage product specifications across the supply chain," said Keith Miller, Senior Vice President at GE Equity. "With its IntelliDoc specification solutions, Cohesia is uniquely positioned to deliver strategic value for this industry."
Cohesia IntelliDoc(R) retrieves, reads, and combines data from company and industry specifications, removes ambiguities, and identifies conflicts producing a dynamic, content-enriched, XML document that contains a single set of unambiguous requirements as well as the logic and data governing the manufacturing process. The IntelliDoc spec is a dynamic document that guides the manufacturing process across the entire supply chain.
"Cohesia provides a compelling value proposition for companies looking to build product quality while reducing costs", said Tim Schigel, principal of Blue Chip Venture Company. "IntelliDoc(R) enables a new level of inter-enterprise integration between companies and their supply chains."
GE Equity, a General Electric company, and Blue Chip Venture Company led the financing with additional investment from Arbor Partners and five other organizations. Combined with earlier funding, Cohesia has raised more than $21 million in equity capital to date.
About Cohesia
Cohesia Corporation is the leading provider of e-specification solutions for manufacturers of complex, highly engineered products. Cohesia IntelliDoc(R) captures detailed, granular content of specifications as content-enriched XML, allowing buyers and suppliers to collaborate and negotiate on quality attributes, not just price. Cohesia's B2B e-specification solution provides superior communication, interpretation, and accuracy of complex specifications resulting in improved quality, reduced order response times, and lower costs. The company offers products across a variety of markets including aerospace and automotive-related industries. Product development has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce and is complemented by strategic relationships with major partners and customers. Cohesia is a member of OASIS; a non-profit, international consortium dedicated solely to product-independent data and content interchange. Learn more about Cohesia at http://www.cohesia.com.