W. Marc Bernsau
The world’s land mass, it’s theorized, was taken up by a single
continent known as Pangaea some 300 million years ago. Today,
software-as-a-service firm Panjiva Inc. has taken inspiration from that in both its name and its business model.
The company, with offices in Cambridge, New York and Shanghai, serves as a matchmaker for buyers and sellers that are often continents — and cultures — apart.
“We like to think we’re bringing people together much like they (would have been) together back in the time of Pangaea,” Panjiva chief technology officer James Psota said.
Although there’s a lot of talk about the global economy, forging partnerships with companies half the world — or just a country — away isn’t a quick or simple process, as Panjiva CEO Josh Green discovered early in his career. Records can be incomplete, contact information difficult to come by, quality assurance sometimes impossible.
This prompted Green and Psota to start Panjiva in 2006, gathering and organizing data to eventually create a searchable database that has grown to include 6 million companies in 190 countries. The companies trade in anything from chemicals, to apparel, to auto parts. Panjiva’s recently-announced partnership with ThomasNet also now allows access to more than 500,000 U.S. suppliers.
Backed by roughly $10 million from Battery Ventures, Harrison Metal and angel investors, Panjiva now has 5,000 paying users — 42 of which are Fortune 500 companies — and attracts more than 1 million unique online visitors a month, according to Psota. Subscriptions range from $100 to $1,000 a month.
The site draws data from public and proprietary sources such as government agencies, credit rating institutions and U.S. Customs reports. It also makes use of a custom web-crawler that scours the Internet for email addresses and phone numbers.
Buyers and sellers can use the site to perform global searches, view company profiles and connect with executives and customers they might not otherwise have access to. People can be contacted anonymously, and users can create inquiries to algorithmically connect them with potential partners.
About a year ago, the company also broadened its vision to include more tools for sellers, enabling them to put up targeted ads, maintain more control over their profiles, and have more information on, and access to, buyers.
Meanwhile, because of all the data at its disposal, the 50-employee company (with 12 in Cambridge) also provides trend reports on various sectors.
Ultimately, Panjiva provides a good “calibration point,” said user Mike Matteo of Charleston, S.C.-based M-Squared Consulting LLC. Matteo said his practice focuses on international supply chain improvement projects, and that Panjiva’s data helps him stay attuned to new manufacturing regions and dominant importers in certain categories, while also educating him on suppliers and potential clients.
“You always want to understand the dynamics and the landscape of who the suppliers are, who the exporters are, who their key customers are,” Matteo said. “It’s a great tool for learning about the supplier landscape.”
Original story link here.
The company, with offices in Cambridge, New York and Shanghai, serves as a matchmaker for buyers and sellers that are often continents — and cultures — apart.
“We like to think we’re bringing people together much like they (would have been) together back in the time of Pangaea,” Panjiva chief technology officer James Psota said.
Although there’s a lot of talk about the global economy, forging partnerships with companies half the world — or just a country — away isn’t a quick or simple process, as Panjiva CEO Josh Green discovered early in his career. Records can be incomplete, contact information difficult to come by, quality assurance sometimes impossible.
This prompted Green and Psota to start Panjiva in 2006, gathering and organizing data to eventually create a searchable database that has grown to include 6 million companies in 190 countries. The companies trade in anything from chemicals, to apparel, to auto parts. Panjiva’s recently-announced partnership with ThomasNet also now allows access to more than 500,000 U.S. suppliers.
Backed by roughly $10 million from Battery Ventures, Harrison Metal and angel investors, Panjiva now has 5,000 paying users — 42 of which are Fortune 500 companies — and attracts more than 1 million unique online visitors a month, according to Psota. Subscriptions range from $100 to $1,000 a month.
The site draws data from public and proprietary sources such as government agencies, credit rating institutions and U.S. Customs reports. It also makes use of a custom web-crawler that scours the Internet for email addresses and phone numbers.
Buyers and sellers can use the site to perform global searches, view company profiles and connect with executives and customers they might not otherwise have access to. People can be contacted anonymously, and users can create inquiries to algorithmically connect them with potential partners.
About a year ago, the company also broadened its vision to include more tools for sellers, enabling them to put up targeted ads, maintain more control over their profiles, and have more information on, and access to, buyers.
Meanwhile, because of all the data at its disposal, the 50-employee company (with 12 in Cambridge) also provides trend reports on various sectors.
Ultimately, Panjiva provides a good “calibration point,” said user Mike Matteo of Charleston, S.C.-based M-Squared Consulting LLC. Matteo said his practice focuses on international supply chain improvement projects, and that Panjiva’s data helps him stay attuned to new manufacturing regions and dominant importers in certain categories, while also educating him on suppliers and potential clients.
“You always want to understand the dynamics and the landscape of who the suppliers are, who the exporters are, who their key customers are,” Matteo said. “It’s a great tool for learning about the supplier landscape.”
Original story link here.
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