When Anthony Sardain started developing Cabela’s, an AI startup that helps brands automate supplier sourcing, in 2023, he didn’t anticipate that new tariffs would make customers increasingly wary of making products in China.
“It’s not just about going into Vietnam and building a supply chain,” Sardain told TechCrunch. “A lot of brands find one supplier and stick with it for the rest of their lives because they don’t want to lose it.”
This is especially true for small and medium-sized businesses that do not have a dedicated global procurement department. Sardain claims that Cavela solves this problem through AI agents, software tools that perform tasks autonomously and, in this case, act as a private procurement team. These distributors can find potential suppliers in over 40 countries and negotiate product specifications and prices.
On Wednesday, Cavela announced that it had raised $6.6 million in seed funding co-led by XYZ Venture Capital and Susa Ventures, with participation from Crossover Capital.
Finding suppliers and negotiating prices is an inherently difficult and time-consuming process, which Sardain says would not be possible to automate without generative AI.
“Product manufacturing involves large amounts of text data, image data, diagrams, sketches, and photos, a type of data that technology didn’t work well with until the advent of AI,” Sardain says.
Using the latest LLM and image models, brands can upload complete product information, including specifications, blueprints, and all other details about the product they want to produce, directly to Cavela’s AI agent. Based on these details, the agent identifies dozens of potential manufacturers and instantly contacts those factories via WhatsApp, email, or text message to understand production capacity and lead times and collect price quotes.
tech crunch event
san francisco
|
October 13-15, 2026
Sardain claims the entire process is seamless and doesn’t require brands to send hundreds of messages back and forth. “When you log in a few days later, you’ll see a quote in your inbox,” he says. The company then typically asks a shortlist of potential suppliers to send product samples to help select one or more factories for final production.
Cavela estimates that it not only significantly reduces the time customers spend searching for manufacturing partners, but also saves an average of 35% in manufacturing costs.
“If you get 100 quotes, you’ll happen to end up with a much lower price, and you’ll also find a better supplier in the process,” Sardain said.
Cabela’s customers, including fire-resistant apparel brand Western Welder Outfitting and men’s grooming brand The Longhairs, report that the startup has helped them find manufacturers to produce their products at a much lower cost than pre-tariff prices.
Sardain, a former data science lead at data analytics startup Tierra, traces his knowledge of trade and procurement back to three generations in his family. He grew up living in Asia’s trading centers including Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and mainland China, which gave him a valuable understanding of how local manufacturers approach their work.
Cavela’s competitors include Alibaba, which connects brands with thousands of manufacturers in China, and Pietra, a brand management startup that also uses AI to help companies source products.
Source link
