Plato announced Tuesday it closed a $14.5 million seed round to develop an AI platform aimed at transforming sales operations for distributors worldwide. The funding, led by Atomico, drew investments from Cherry Ventures, D11Z Ventures, Discovery Ventures and Lucid Capital.

Distributors power global commerce but cling to outdated systems from decades past, according to the company. Those legacy tools handle orders efficiently yet fail to equip sales teams with insights from abundant data. Plato’s founders see a clear gap: reps know who their customers are and spot potential deals in their databases, but they lack the smarts to turn that into daily action plans.

The startup’s AI operating system changes that dynamic. It shifts sales from reacting to customer requests toward proactive outreach. Sales teams gain tools to detect cross-sell chances, flag customers at risk of churning and automate quotes plus order creation—all inside familiar ERP setups. Plato claims this cuts paperwork, freeing reps to chase revenue instead of admin drudgery.

One core fix targets a daily headache for reps: picking the right contacts. Distributors sit on troves of data pinpointing hot leads, Plato says. The platform crunches that into precise recommendations, promising faster growth without overhauling backend tech.

Company executives tout measurable results already. Early users report higher sales efficiency as the AI surfaces opportunities buried in old systems. Plato plans to pour the fresh capital into tech upgrades and onboarding more clients hungry to ditch reactive habits.

Distribution remains a massive, sleepy sector ripe for disruption. Trillions flow through these channels yearly, from industrial parts to consumer goods. Yet many firms still wrestle with software from the 1990s, limiting agility in competitive markets. Plato positions its product as the upgrade distributors need to thrive amid e-commerce pressures and supply chain shifts.

With this seed haul, the company eyes rapid scaling. Expect hires in engineering and sales, plus deeper integrations with top ERP providers. Investors like Atomico, known for backing European scale-ups, signal confidence in Plato’s vision for AI-driven distribution.