Singuli

Singuli is an AI-driven demand-forecasting and inventory-optimization company that builds software to help retailers, DTC/e‑commerce brands, distributors and wholesalers reduce stockouts and excess inventory while improving margins and service levels[4][1].

High-Level Overview

• Mission: Singuli’s stated goal is to “take the guess-work out of planning and supply chain processes” by delivering AI-powered demand forecasts and inventory optimization for retail, manufacturing, distribution and e‑commerce businesses[4].
  - Investment philosophy / Key sectors / Impact (if treated as an investment firm): Singuli is not an investment firm; it is a product startup operating in retail tech and supply‑chain software, focused on inventory and demand planning for DTC, e‑commerce, distribution and wholesale sectors[4][1].
  - For a portfolio-company style summary (what Singuli actually is): Singuli builds an AI/ML platform for demand forecasting, purchase-order and shipment management, allocation and probabilistic forecasting that integrates with ERPs/OMS/data warehouses to automate reorders and planning workflows[4][2]. It serves planners, merchants, marketing and finance teams at retailers and distributors and addresses the problem of inaccurate forecasts, stockouts, overstocks and inefficient purchasing by producing probabilistic forecasts and optimized ordering recommendations[4][2]. The company reports working with dozens of customers (70+ cited on its site) and raised a $3.7M seed round to expand R&D and go‑to‑market efforts, which indicates early growth momentum[4][2][1].

Origin Story

• Founding year and background: Singuli was founded in 2019 and is based in Brooklyn, New York[1][2].
  - Founders and team background: The company describes itself as built by PhD data scientists with over a decade of experience applying ML to retail forecasting problems; public profiles note it was founded by two PhDs with retail experience (the CEO named Benjamin Kelly is cited in press coverage)[3][4][2].
  - How the idea emerged / early traction: The product emerged to address modern retailers’ need to combine customer/cohort behavior, site traffic, product attributes, promotions and supply‑chain realities into forecasts; early traction includes working with 70+ customers per the company site and completing a $3.7M seed round led by Harlem Capital to scale engineering and data science[4][2][1].

Core Differentiators

• Model & data approach: Uses machine‑learning models tailored to modern retail datasets (cohort behavior, site traffic, marketing events, product attributes) and offers probabilistic forecasting rather than deterministic point estimates[3][4].
  - End‑to‑end inventory workflow: Beyond forecasts, Singuli provides purchase‑order, shipment, receipt and cost tracking plus allocation tools so customers can move from insight to execution in one platform[4].
  - Integration and deployment speed: Offers white‑glove integrations with ERP/OMS/data warehouse systems and claims time‑to‑value in as little as four weeks[4].
  - Focus on retail use‑cases: Built specifically for retail/DTC and omni‑channel complexity (reorders, markdowns, seasonality, promotions), giving domain‑specific features versus generic forecasting tools[4][1].
  - Probabilistic & decision‑oriented outputs: Forecasts that capture uncertainty to improve decision making and inventory policies rather than single-point forecasts[4].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

• Trends being ridden: Singuli aligns with the surge in AI/ML adoption for supply‑chain resilience, demand-sensing, and automation in retail planning as companies seek to reduce working capital and avoid stockouts[2][4].
  - Why timing matters: Post‑pandemic supply‑chain volatility, inflationary cost pressures, and the growth of DTC/e‑commerce have increased demand for granular, data‑driven forecasting and automated replenishment solutions[2][4].
  - Market forces in their favor: Rising retailer focus on inventory turns, margin protection, omnichannel fulfillment complexity, and availability of richer digital signals (site traffic, cohort behavior) enable ML models to add value[4][1].
  - Influence on ecosystem: By packaging forecasting + execution and integrating with ERP/OMS, Singuli can shorten the feedback loop between demand signals and procurement decisions, improving retailer operational efficiency and potentially raising expectations for real‑time, probabilistic planning in the industry[4].

Quick Take & Future Outlook

• Near term: Expect continued productization of probabilistic, ML‑driven demand forecasts and deeper integrations with ERP/OMS platforms and upstream suppliers; recent seed funding indicates plans to expand R&D and commercial teams to capture more DTC/retail customers[2][1][4].
  - Medium term trends that will shape Singuli: Wider adoption of prescriptive forecasting (forecasts that recommend orders), growth of real‑time signals (point‑of‑sale, web analytics, marketing events), and market preference for SaaS tools that directly reduce inventory cost and stockouts[4][1].
  - Risks and opportunities: Opportunity to win mid‑market and enterprise retailers that need end‑to‑end automation; risks include competition from established supply‑chain software vendors and other ML‑native startups in inventory optimization[1][3].
  - How influence may evolve: If Singuli scales deployments and demonstrates measurable ROI (reduced stockouts, lower carrying costs), it could become a standard add‑on to modern retail tech stacks and influence how planning teams incorporate probabilistic forecasts into procurement and merchandising decisions[4][2].

Quick take: Singuli is a niche, ML-first inventory optimization startup (founded 2019) focused on delivering probabilistic demand forecasts plus execution tooling for retailers and distributors; with early customer traction and seed funding, its trajectory will depend on proving quantifiable ROI at scale and differentiating against larger supply‑chain incumbents[4][2][1].

(Statements about funding, founding year, customer counts and product capabilities are drawn from Singuli’s website and press coverage[4][2][1].)