Tech Startup Plato Raises Millions to Transform Wholesale
Plato Founders Matthias Heinrich (CPO), Benedikt Nolte (CEO), Oliver Birch (CTO) - © Plato
Cherry Ventures is leading a $6.5 million pre-seed investment in Plato, a berlin-based tech startup developing an AI-powered platform for wholesale distribution. According to the company's announcement, several prominent angels from Microsoft, SAP, Celonis, Personio, and Forto have also participated in the funding round.
The platform aims to address critical challenges facing the wholesale industry, including labor shortages, economic uncertainty, and digital transformation pressures. Plato's solution combines sales intelligence with workflow automation to streamline operations and identify revenue opportunities.
"Plato's product fits perfectly with Cherry's core AI theses for supporting the modern working world," said Cherry Ventures Partner Jasper Masemann. He emphasized that Plato's industry knowledge and technical capabilities set them apart from other European teams.
Founded by Benedikt Nolte, Matthias Heinrich, and Oliver Birch, the startup focuses on automating ERP processes and administrative tasks such as quote generation. The platform's AI-powered recommendations are designed to boost sales and enhance customer retention.
The fresh capital will primarily fund further platform development and AI team expansion. Plato particularly targets German medium-sized wholesale companies, helping them automate manual processes and optimize sales strategies.
Cherry Ventures, known for backing successful startups like FlixBus and Auto1, views Plato as a potential global market leader in wholesale digitization. The venture capital firm, with offices in Berlin, London, and Stockholm, brings extensive entrepreneurial experience from companies like Zalando, Uber, and Spotify to support Plato's growth journey.
