Sep 24, 2025
LightSource is Validated in the Fall 2025 Spend Matters SolutionMap
Our AI-native platform for direct materials sourcing earns top marks for Enterprise feature capabilities in the industry's most rigorous, data-backed evaluation.
Why LightSource's Inclusion in the Spend Matters SolutionMap is a Big Deal
 | Finding the right procurement technology is a challenge. It's a significant investment that requires time, effort, and confidence. That’s why we’re excited to announce that LightSource has been included in the Fall 2025 Spend Matters SolutionMap, a benchmark for procurement technology. This independent validation confirms our commitment to providing a powerful, purpose-built platform for direct materials sourcing. | |
Key Takeaways about LightSource being Validated in the SolutionMap
Third-Party Validation: LightSource's inclusion in the Spend Matters SolutionMap confirms our platform’s capabilities and value in the market.
Top Performance: We scored above the benchmark in key areas like Cost Modeling and Sourcing Optimization, proving our platform's ability to drive efficiency and smarter decision-making.
Confidence in Choice: The SolutionMap provides procurement professionals with a trusted, data-driven resource to confidently select technology that fits their specific needs.
What is the Spend Matters SolutionMap?
The Spend Matters SolutionMap is a rigorous, data-driven assessment of procurement technology vendors.
It evaluates 115 different providers against more than 500 functional and capability requirements, including mandatory demos and impartial, anonymized customer ratings. This process helps organizations confidently identify the right technology partners for their needs.
The SolutionMap’s methodology is updated every six months, ensuring that the data is current and reflects the continuous innovation in the industry, especially as providers make AI-based product enhancements.
As Spend Matters CEO Carina Kuhl explains, this process provides "unmatched clarity and deep, unbiased insights into a highly dynamic and competitive market".
Why is it important that Spend Matters validates the platform?
It is important because it provides an objective, transparent, and data-backed validation of a procurement solution. For procurement leaders and buyers, this validation helps cut through the noise of the market and offers a credible, third-party assessment of a vendor's capabilities and customer satisfaction. This helps teams justify their technology investments and secure stakeholder buy-in.
The SolutionMap is grounded in rigorous analysis rather than subjective opinions, which is why it's so valuable. It’s almost like a "consumer reports" for procurement technology, allowing users to quickly find vendors that meet their specific market needs. This provides confidence to a CPO, procurement manager, or buyer when they are making a decision that will impact their company's success.
How did LightSource perform in the Sourcing category?
LightSource's scores in the Sourcing module show that our platform is above the benchmark in several key functional areas.
Source: Spend Matters SolutionMap 2025 Free Dashboard, overall score, sorted by Large Market Fit
Our performance in Cost Modeling, Sourcing Optimization, Supplier Portals, and Sourcing Services stands out.
This is a testament to our platform's ability to create detailed cost structures with advanced formulas, run intelligent what-if scenarios to identify optimal awards, and provide a seamless, easy-to-use experience for suppliers.
These capabilities directly address the pain points of buyers and procurement managers, helping them move from a reactive approach to a proactive, strategic one.
How did LightSource score high in Cost Modeling?
LightSource scored above the benchmark in Cost Modeling because of our solution’s ability to build detailed and rich cost structures, handle complex formulas, and integrate external market data.
Our platform allows users to define nested Bill of Materials (BOMs) and provides BOM Cost Management features like cost breakdown and cost history to analyze key cost drivers and track fluctuations over time.
The platform’s advanced formula system and highly configurable, Excel-like bid sheets handle complex calculation logic. LightSource's AI also standardizes and normalizes quote data from dozens of suppliers into a single BOM view, even if the quotes are sent as emails, PDFs, or spreadsheets.
We also support should-cost modeling and integrate public market benchmarks to aid in negotiation.
What about Sourcing Optimization and Supplier Portals?
Our high score in Sourcing Optimization comes from our platform's ability to automate complex award analysis and create award scenarios.
The Auto-Analyst feature analyzes RFXs and recommends scenarios like "Best cost" or "At most 2 suppliers," helping buyers make swift, data-driven decisions. We also allow users to compare quotes and evaluate bids based on different sourcing scenarios, such as sourcing from China versus the US.
LightSource’s high score in Supplier Portals shows our platform is built for suppliers, not just buyers. We are designed to make it easy for suppliers to review an RFQ and respond quickly, helping them win business.
We also support multi-customer management, allowing suppliers to manage multiple customers from a single login.
How did our Sourcing Services stand out?
LightSource's high score in Sourcing Services reflects our comprehensive functionality across the entire source-to-contract (S2C) lifecycle.
We provide end-to-end support, from supplier discovery to post-award management, including RFI, RFP, and RFQ.
Our platform also provides category management intelligence through features like the "Programs" tool, which groups sourcing projects and BOMs to pull key metrics into a single view.
Additionally, our AI Document Analysis automatically extracts key details and metadata from various document types, including graphs and diagrams, providing deep category intelligence and helping users build category-specific content and templates. This proves that we offer more than just a software solution; we provide a comprehensive platform that supports procurement teams throughout the entire sourcing lifecycle.
The inclusion of LightSource in the Fall 2025 Spend Matters SolutionMap is more than just an accolade; it's an affirmation of our core mission.
We believe that with the right technology, procurement can be a source of progress, not pain, and our platform is built on that belief.
The validation from Spend Matters should empower our potential customers with the confidence to choose a solution that is not only innovative but also independently proven to deliver results.
Why LightSource's Inclusion in the Spend Matters SolutionMap is a Big Deal
| Finding the right procurement technology is a challenge. It's a significant investment that requires time, effort, and confidence. That’s why we’re excited to announce that LightSource has been included in the Fall 2025 Spend Matters SolutionMap, a benchmark for procurement technology. This independent validation confirms our commitment to providing a powerful, purpose-built platform for direct materials sourcing. | |
Key Takeaways about LightSource being Validated in the SolutionMap
Third-Party Validation: LightSource's inclusion in the Spend Matters SolutionMap confirms our platform’s capabilities and value in the market.
Top Performance: We scored above the benchmark in key areas like Cost Modeling and Sourcing Optimization, proving our platform's ability to drive efficiency and smarter decision-making.
Confidence in Choice: The SolutionMap provides procurement professionals with a trusted, data-driven resource to confidently select technology that fits their specific needs.
What is the Spend Matters SolutionMap?
The Spend Matters SolutionMap is a rigorous, data-driven assessment of procurement technology vendors.
It evaluates 115 different providers against more than 500 functional and capability requirements, including mandatory demos and impartial, anonymized customer ratings. This process helps organizations confidently identify the right technology partners for their needs.
The SolutionMap’s methodology is updated every six months, ensuring that the data is current and reflects the continuous innovation in the industry, especially as providers make AI-based product enhancements.
As Spend Matters CEO Carina Kuhl explains, this process provides "unmatched clarity and deep, unbiased insights into a highly dynamic and competitive market".
Why is it important that Spend Matters validates the platform?
It is important because it provides an objective, transparent, and data-backed validation of a procurement solution. For procurement leaders and buyers, this validation helps cut through the noise of the market and offers a credible, third-party assessment of a vendor's capabilities and customer satisfaction. This helps teams justify their technology investments and secure stakeholder buy-in.
The SolutionMap is grounded in rigorous analysis rather than subjective opinions, which is why it's so valuable. It’s almost like a "consumer reports" for procurement technology, allowing users to quickly find vendors that meet their specific market needs. This provides confidence to a CPO, procurement manager, or buyer when they are making a decision that will impact their company's success.
How did LightSource perform in the Sourcing category?
LightSource's scores in the Sourcing module show that our platform is above the benchmark in several key functional areas.
Source: Spend Matters SolutionMap 2025 Free Dashboard, overall score, sorted by Large Market Fit
Our performance in Cost Modeling, Sourcing Optimization, Supplier Portals, and Sourcing Services stands out.
This is a testament to our platform's ability to create detailed cost structures with advanced formulas, run intelligent what-if scenarios to identify optimal awards, and provide a seamless, easy-to-use experience for suppliers.
These capabilities directly address the pain points of buyers and procurement managers, helping them move from a reactive approach to a proactive, strategic one.
How did LightSource score high in Cost Modeling?
LightSource scored above the benchmark in Cost Modeling because of our solution’s ability to build detailed and rich cost structures, handle complex formulas, and integrate external market data.
Our platform allows users to define nested Bill of Materials (BOMs) and provides BOM Cost Management features like cost breakdown and cost history to analyze key cost drivers and track fluctuations over time.
The platform’s advanced formula system and highly configurable, Excel-like bid sheets handle complex calculation logic. LightSource's AI also standardizes and normalizes quote data from dozens of suppliers into a single BOM view, even if the quotes are sent as emails, PDFs, or spreadsheets.
We also support should-cost modeling and integrate public market benchmarks to aid in negotiation.
What about Sourcing Optimization and Supplier Portals?
Our high score in Sourcing Optimization comes from our platform's ability to automate complex award analysis and create award scenarios.
The Auto-Analyst feature analyzes RFXs and recommends scenarios like "Best cost" or "At most 2 suppliers," helping buyers make swift, data-driven decisions. We also allow users to compare quotes and evaluate bids based on different sourcing scenarios, such as sourcing from China versus the US.
LightSource’s high score in Supplier Portals shows our platform is built for suppliers, not just buyers. We are designed to make it easy for suppliers to review an RFQ and respond quickly, helping them win business.
We also support multi-customer management, allowing suppliers to manage multiple customers from a single login.
How did our Sourcing Services stand out?
LightSource's high score in Sourcing Services reflects our comprehensive functionality across the entire source-to-contract (S2C) lifecycle.
We provide end-to-end support, from supplier discovery to post-award management, including RFI, RFP, and RFQ.
Our platform also provides category management intelligence through features like the "Programs" tool, which groups sourcing projects and BOMs to pull key metrics into a single view.
Additionally, our AI Document Analysis automatically extracts key details and metadata from various document types, including graphs and diagrams, providing deep category intelligence and helping users build category-specific content and templates. This proves that we offer more than just a software solution; we provide a comprehensive platform that supports procurement teams throughout the entire sourcing lifecycle.
The inclusion of LightSource in the Fall 2025 Spend Matters SolutionMap is more than just an accolade; it's an affirmation of our core mission.
We believe that with the right technology, procurement can be a source of progress, not pain, and our platform is built on that belief.
The validation from Spend Matters should empower our potential customers with the confidence to choose a solution that is not only innovative but also independently proven to deliver results.
Why LightSource's Inclusion in the Spend Matters SolutionMap is a Big Deal
| Finding the right procurement technology is a challenge. It's a significant investment that requires time, effort, and confidence. That’s why we’re excited to announce that LightSource has been included in the Fall 2025 Spend Matters SolutionMap, a benchmark for procurement technology. This independent validation confirms our commitment to providing a powerful, purpose-built platform for direct materials sourcing. | |
Key Takeaways about LightSource being Validated in the SolutionMap
Third-Party Validation: LightSource's inclusion in the Spend Matters SolutionMap confirms our platform’s capabilities and value in the market.
Top Performance: We scored above the benchmark in key areas like Cost Modeling and Sourcing Optimization, proving our platform's ability to drive efficiency and smarter decision-making.
Confidence in Choice: The SolutionMap provides procurement professionals with a trusted, data-driven resource to confidently select technology that fits their specific needs.
What is the Spend Matters SolutionMap?
The Spend Matters SolutionMap is a rigorous, data-driven assessment of procurement technology vendors.
It evaluates 115 different providers against more than 500 functional and capability requirements, including mandatory demos and impartial, anonymized customer ratings. This process helps organizations confidently identify the right technology partners for their needs.
The SolutionMap’s methodology is updated every six months, ensuring that the data is current and reflects the continuous innovation in the industry, especially as providers make AI-based product enhancements.
As Spend Matters CEO Carina Kuhl explains, this process provides "unmatched clarity and deep, unbiased insights into a highly dynamic and competitive market".
Why is it important that Spend Matters validates the platform?
It is important because it provides an objective, transparent, and data-backed validation of a procurement solution. For procurement leaders and buyers, this validation helps cut through the noise of the market and offers a credible, third-party assessment of a vendor's capabilities and customer satisfaction. This helps teams justify their technology investments and secure stakeholder buy-in.
The SolutionMap is grounded in rigorous analysis rather than subjective opinions, which is why it's so valuable. It’s almost like a "consumer reports" for procurement technology, allowing users to quickly find vendors that meet their specific market needs. This provides confidence to a CPO, procurement manager, or buyer when they are making a decision that will impact their company's success.
How did LightSource perform in the Sourcing category?
LightSource's scores in the Sourcing module show that our platform is above the benchmark in several key functional areas.
Source: Spend Matters SolutionMap 2025 Free Dashboard, overall score, sorted by Large Market Fit
Our performance in Cost Modeling, Sourcing Optimization, Supplier Portals, and Sourcing Services stands out.
This is a testament to our platform's ability to create detailed cost structures with advanced formulas, run intelligent what-if scenarios to identify optimal awards, and provide a seamless, easy-to-use experience for suppliers.
These capabilities directly address the pain points of buyers and procurement managers, helping them move from a reactive approach to a proactive, strategic one.
How did LightSource score high in Cost Modeling?
LightSource scored above the benchmark in Cost Modeling because of our solution’s ability to build detailed and rich cost structures, handle complex formulas, and integrate external market data.
Our platform allows users to define nested Bill of Materials (BOMs) and provides BOM Cost Management features like cost breakdown and cost history to analyze key cost drivers and track fluctuations over time.
The platform’s advanced formula system and highly configurable, Excel-like bid sheets handle complex calculation logic. LightSource's AI also standardizes and normalizes quote data from dozens of suppliers into a single BOM view, even if the quotes are sent as emails, PDFs, or spreadsheets.
We also support should-cost modeling and integrate public market benchmarks to aid in negotiation.
What about Sourcing Optimization and Supplier Portals?
Our high score in Sourcing Optimization comes from our platform's ability to automate complex award analysis and create award scenarios.
The Auto-Analyst feature analyzes RFXs and recommends scenarios like "Best cost" or "At most 2 suppliers," helping buyers make swift, data-driven decisions. We also allow users to compare quotes and evaluate bids based on different sourcing scenarios, such as sourcing from China versus the US.
LightSource’s high score in Supplier Portals shows our platform is built for suppliers, not just buyers. We are designed to make it easy for suppliers to review an RFQ and respond quickly, helping them win business.
We also support multi-customer management, allowing suppliers to manage multiple customers from a single login.
How did our Sourcing Services stand out?
LightSource's high score in Sourcing Services reflects our comprehensive functionality across the entire source-to-contract (S2C) lifecycle.
We provide end-to-end support, from supplier discovery to post-award management, including RFI, RFP, and RFQ.
Our platform also provides category management intelligence through features like the "Programs" tool, which groups sourcing projects and BOMs to pull key metrics into a single view.
Additionally, our AI Document Analysis automatically extracts key details and metadata from various document types, including graphs and diagrams, providing deep category intelligence and helping users build category-specific content and templates. This proves that we offer more than just a software solution; we provide a comprehensive platform that supports procurement teams throughout the entire sourcing lifecycle.
The inclusion of LightSource in the Fall 2025 Spend Matters SolutionMap is more than just an accolade; it's an affirmation of our core mission.
We believe that with the right technology, procurement can be a source of progress, not pain, and our platform is built on that belief.
The validation from Spend Matters should empower our potential customers with the confidence to choose a solution that is not only innovative but also independently proven to deliver results.
Ready to change the way you source?
Try out LightSource and you’ll never go back to Excel and email.
Ready to change the way you source?
Try out LightSource and you’ll never go back to Excel and email.
Ready to change the way you source?
Try out LightSource and you’ll never go back to Excel and email.
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