What Center Group does

Center Group SAS is a Colombian procurement Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and procurement technology company founded in 2006 and headquartered in Medellín. The company provides procurement process outsourcing, strategic negotiation services, consulting, and proprietary procurement technology to enterprises and public entities across Latin America. Its service portfolio spans four pillars: BPO en Compras (managed procurement outsourcing), Consultorías y Capacitaciones (consulting and training), Negociaciones Estratégicas (strategic supplier negotiations), and the AKIRI technology platform. Customers are reached through a consultative, relationship-driven direct sales motion targeting procurement leaders and C-suite executives in healthcare, mining/energy, public sector, and productive/services verticals across nine countries (Colombia, USA, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru). The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors or funding rounds.

The core technology asset is the AKIRI Source-to-Pay (P2P) platform, comprising a core AKIRI P2P module plus two specialized sub-modules: AKIRI MIDoffice (indirect spend management, supplier benchmarking, and sourcing) and AKIRI BACKoffice (purchase order tracking, 3-way match, invoicing, and supplier administration). The platform supports electronic catalogs, approval workflows, electronic negotiations and auctions, and integrates with partner ecosystems including SAP Ariba. Center Group reports embedding AI capabilities including autonomous agents for RFP drafting and supplier scoring, generative AI for document creation and supplier query chatbots, predictive analytics for cost forecasting and supplier recommendations, and anomaly detection for spend patterns and supplier risk signals.

Center Group generates revenue primarily through managed services (procurement BPO with dedicated expert teams), professional services (consulting, training, and strategic negotiations), and technology implementation engagements (AKIRI deployment and integration). Pricing is quote-based rather than publicly listed, with initial advisory consultations used to identify process improvement opportunities before service contracts are scoped. The company is founder/management-owned, operates without disclosed channel partners or institutional investors, and reports having served 100+ companies and processed over $4 billion in purchases over the last 5 years.

Name

Center Group

Legal name

Center Group SAS

Website

https://centergroupsa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Center Group is a Colombian procurement BPO and technology firm that provides outsourced purchasing, strategic negotiation, consulting, and its proprietary AKIRI P2P platform to enterprises and public entities across nine Latin American countries, with sector specializations in healthcare, mining/energy, public sector, and productive services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Procurement Business Process Outsourcing

NAICS

Office Administrative Services (5611)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Spend Analytics & Reporting Support (BPAAAJAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Workflow & Case Management (Human-Centric BPM) (HDAEAHAA)

Keywords

• Procurement outsourcing
• Strategic sourcing
• Procure-to-pay software
• Supplier negotiations
• Procurement consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Medellín

HQ country

Colombia

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. BPO in Procurement: Outsourcing of procurement acquisition processes to Center Group's expert team, guaranteeing efficiency and operational cost reduction for clients across LATAM.
2. Consulting and Training Services: Customized strategy design to optimize procurement processes and ensure successful negotiations, including process optimization, competency development, and KPI measurement.
3. Strategic Negotiations: Guaranteeing favorable contracts and conditions with key suppliers through structured negotiation methodologies and electronic negotiation processes.
4. AKIRI Technology Implementation: Implementation of technological solutions to digitize and streamline every stage of the procurement cycle including P2P automation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Center Group is a procurement Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) provider for Latin American enterprises and governments. It delivers strategic sourcing, supplier negotiations, end-to-end procurement BPO, and procurement consulting/training, executed through its proprietary AKIRI P2P procure-to-pay technology platform. The company combines people-driven procurement execution with an owned technology stack to manage the full procure-to-pay cycle for its clients.

Product overview

Center Group offers a portfolio of procurement services organized around a proprietary technology platform and four core service lines. The AKIRI platform serves as the central technology offering, comprising the core AKIRI P2P module plus two specialized sub-modules: AKIRI MIDoffice for indirect procurement management and benchmarking, and AKIRI BACKoffice for purchase order management, 3-way match, and supplier administration. Complementing the platform, Center Group delivers three service pillars: Consultorías y Capacitaciones (consulting and training), Negociaciones Estratégicas (strategic procurement negotiations), and BPO en Compras (full procurement outsourcing). The AKIRI technology and BPO services are tightly integrated — MIDoffice handles sourcing and supplier evaluation, the P2P core manages catalog-based procurement and approvals, and BACKoffice manages post-order execution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AKIRI: Technology platform for P2P (Procure-to-Pay) implementation that streamlines and digitizes procurement processes including electronic negotiation of goods and services, electronic catalogs, approval workflows, and purchase order generation.

Products and services

• AKIRI P2P Proprietary procure-to-pay platform covering the full purchase-to-pay cycle, used to operate procurement BPO for LATAM enterprises and public-sector clients.
• AKIRI MIDoffice Module within the AKIRI suite supporting mid-office procurement functions such as category management, sourcing, and transactional procurement workflows.
• AKIRI BACKoffice Module within the AKIRI suite handling back-office procurement activities such as invoice processing, supplier master data, and payment workflows.
• BPO en Compras (Procurement BPO) End-to-end outsourced procurement service for LATAM enterprises and public-sector buyers, executed using Center Group's specialists and the AKIRI platform.
• Negociaciones Estratégicas (Strategic Negotiations) Service in which Center Group negotiates contracts and commercials with suppliers on the client's behalf, leveraging category expertise and aggregated spend.
• Consultorías y Capacitaciones (Consulting and Training) Procurement consulting and capability-building service covering diagnostics, operating model design, and team training for client procurement organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20-30% reduction in administrative costs for clients implementing BPO services
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability9 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Asociación de Profesionales en Compras (APC)minorOthersProfessional association affiliation demonstrating commitment to procurement professional standards and industry community involvement.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• SAP Ariba: SAP Ariba is the dominant enterprise procurement platform globally and is also a Center Group partner. Comparable as both a technology incumbent whose platform competes with AKIRI and as a partnership channel; represents the global standard against which Center Group's regional offering must differentiate.
• Coupa Software: Coupa (now part of Thoma Bravo) is a leading cloud-based Business Spend Management platform covering procurement, invoicing, and expense management. Comparable as a broad incumbent procurement platform whose capabilities overlap with AKIRI's P2P scope, though Coupa targets global multinationals rather than LATAM-specific deployments.
• Ivalua: Ivalua provides a unified Source-to-Pay platform with spend analysis, supplier management, and contract management—comparable functional scope to AKIRI. Represents another broad incumbent procurement platform competing for global enterprise contracts.
• Jaggaer: Jaggaer is an enterprise procurement and supplier management platform with deep category expertise and direct sourcing capabilities. Comparable as a broad incumbent whose Source-to-Pay platform overlaps with AKIRI's functionality and competes for the same enterprise and public-sector RFP opportunities.

Direct peers

• Proxima: Proxima is a procurement-focused consultancy that combines strategic advisory with embedded operational support and supplier negotiations—closely aligned to Center Group's consulting, negotiation, and BPO service pillars. Comparable as a procurement transformation services firm targeting enterprise CPOs.
• GEP Worldwide: GEP is a global provider of procurement and supply chain software plus managed services, combining a proprietary platform (SMART by GEP) with procurement BPO delivery—directly mirroring Center Group's integrated AKIRI + BPO model. Comparable as a tech-enabled procurement services firm serving large enterprises, though at materially larger global scale.
• Efficio: Efficio is a procurement and supply chain consultancy delivering strategic sourcing, category management, and procurement transformation services to large enterprises globally. Comparable to Center Group's consulting and strategic negotiation offerings, with similar emphasis on measurable savings and category expertise.

Emerging players

• Simfoni: Simfoni provides AI-driven spend analytics and procurement intelligence, comparable to the spend analytics and benchmarking components of Center Group's AKIRI platform and consulting services. Represents an emerging player in procurement analytics with a similar data-centric value proposition.
• Zycus: Zycus is an AI-powered procurement platform with autonomous sourcing agents and Merlin AI capabilities, directly comparable to AKIRI's AI agent strategy. Represents an emerging platform competitor with similar AI-forward positioning and Source-to-Pay focus.
• HICX: HICX is a supplier lifecycle management and procurement experience platform focused on supplier onboarding, compliance, and performance management—overlapping with AKIRI's BACKoffice and supplier administration modules. Comparable as a focused emerging player in the procurement technology stack.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/center_group
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/centergroup
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Center Group