Coupa Launches Inclusion Initiative Aimed at Connecting Businesses with Diverse Suppliers

Initiative furthers Coupa's mission of breaking down silos to empower businesses to spend smarter, simpler, and safer

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Oct 21, 2020, 08:00 ET

SAN MATEO, Calif., Oct. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Coupa Software (NASDAQ: COUP) announced an initiative focused on making it easier for enterprises to increase their spend with diverse and inclusive suppliers. Called the Coupa Inclusion Initiative, the program provides new resources, tools, and technologies, including the launch of a diverse supplier portal at supplierinclusion.com that connects buyers with diverse and inclusive suppliers to drive economic impact.

"Businesses recognize the need for policy changes when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, such as supplier diversity programs, because of the ROI, lower operating costs, higher profits, and access to increased innovation for the company," said Rod Robinson, vice president of supplier inclusion and sustainability at Coupa. "However, most companies' supplier diversity efforts are failing in good faith because the information and technology they need to efficiently source and spend with diverse suppliers was not available. Now within the Coupa Business Spend Management Platform, every company can make diversity and inclusion a strategic part of the business, rather than an afterthought."

Standalone diversity, equity, and inclusion programs have struggled to make a significant impact on business supply chains, due to a lack of access to the right technology and information. The Coupa Inclusion Initiative focuses on enabling companies to find, select, and direct spend to hundreds of thousands of diverse and inclusive suppliers via the Coupa platform, including:

Helping Diverse Suppliers Strengthen and Scale: R esources such as whitepapers, videos, and certifications are available to help diverse suppliers gain the requirements needed to partner with larger companies;
Guiding a Successful Future: An advisory board of global diversity leaders and experts have been established to help guide Coupa to become a destination for inclusive suppliers who need mentoring, exposure, and connections with buyers; and
Directing Corporate Spend to Diverse Suppliers: A new, publicly available supplier portal at www.supplierinclusion.com that will enable businesses everywhere to search and find diverse and inclusive suppliers to meet their corporate goals.

The Coupa Inclusion Initiative helps any company incorporate diversity into its current processes by surfacing inclusive suppliers by region, industry, and diversity classification; providing knowledge from global supplier diversity certification and advocacy organizations to create the right inclusive supply chain; and sharing resources and tools to understand the value of inclusive supply chains and how to champion these programs internally.

"As part of Red Cross' commitment to represent the rich diversity of America, we promote a supplier diversity process that develops mutually beneficial relationships with diverse suppliers," said Tom Nash, chief procurement officer at American Red Cross. "And we use numerous tools, including Coupa's diverse supplier portal, to enhance our ability to find and incorporate inclusive suppliers into our supply chain, which helps us meet our diversity goals."

Coupa has partnered with leading diversity and inclusion organizations, including the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), Minority Supplier Development United Kingdom (MSDUK), Global Supplier Diversity Alliance (GSDA), and National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). To become a supplier in the Coupa Inclusion Initiative, register your business here.

"Underrepresentation of inclusive suppliers in both the public and private sectors deprive large organizations of options that bring new ideas to market and benefit the company's bottom line," said Mayank Shah, founder and CEO at MSDUK. "This initiative is giving inclusive suppliers exposure to not only its incredible portfolio of customers but to every company that understands the value of diversifying their supply chain."

To learn more about the Coupa Inclusion Initiative, read the Coupa blog.

About Coupa Software
Coupa empowers companies around the world with the visibility and control they need to spend smarter and safer. To learn more about how Coupa can help you spend smarter, visit www.coupa.com. Read more on the Coupa Blog or follow @Coupa on Twitter.

SOURCE Coupa Software