Next Level Purchasing Association

What Next Level Purchasing Association does

Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA), founded in 2000 and headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, is a procurement and supply chain education provider operating as a subsidiary of The Certitrek Group. The organization delivers a four-tier Certified Procurement Operations (CPO) credential series — CPO Specialist, CPO Professional, CPO Manager, and CPO Executive — alongside full-length courses, express courses, on-demand webinars, articles, whitepapers, templates, case studies, and a salary benchmarking report. Its technology stack is centered on a Moodle-based Learning Management System served from lms.nextlevelpurchasing.com, supplemented by an e-commerce storefront (store.nextlevelpurchasing.com), Certitrek-hosted account/credential dashboards, and a credential verification portal.

NLPA serves two primary customer segments: individual procurement and supply chain professionals seeking career advancement through certification, and organizations pursuing procurement maturity, cost reduction, and process optimization through team training and consulting engagements. Distribution is product-led and self-serve for individuals, with consultative selling for corporate team packages and bespoke consulting. The monetization model blends one-time certification fees, recurring membership subscriptions (Standard and Premium tiers with gated content), online course sales, and professional services consulting. Geographic scope is declared global, with active LMS localization into English (US and International) and Spanish (International and Mexico).

The business is structured as Next Level Purchasing, LLC, a privately held North Carolina LLC, with no disclosed institutional investment, funding rounds, or M&A activity in the source data. Brand identity, certification trademarks, and proprietary course/exam materials are protected under copyright and trademark law. The most recent observable strategic activity is a co-marketing webinar with CobbleStone Software scheduled for November 5, 2025, focused on integrating procurement and contract management.

Name

Next Level Purchasing Association

Legal name

Next Level Purchasing, LLC

Website

https://nextlevelpurchasing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA) is a Durham, North Carolina-based procurement education provider offering a four-tier Certified Procurement Operations (CPO) credential series, online courses, membership subscriptions, and consulting services to individual procurement professionals and corporate procurement teams globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Education and Training

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Procurement & Strategic Sourcing (BPAHAHAB)

Keywords

• Procurement training
• Supply chain education
• Professional certification
• Purchasing certification
• Procurement consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Durham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Certification Programs: Revenue generated from procurement certification exams and credentials including CPO Specialist, CPO Professional, CPO Executive, and CPO Manager programs. These are one-time or per-certification fees for individuals seeking professional credentials.
2. Online Course Sales: Self-paced online courses, full-length courses, and express courses sold to individuals and teams. Pricing options available for group enrollments and bundled registrations with exclusive savings for organizations.
3. Membership Subscriptions: Standard and premium membership tiers providing access to on-demand webinars, whitepapers, articles, templates, worksheets, case studies, and the NLPA Salary Report. Members receive ongoing content and professional development resources.
4. Procurement Consulting Services: Expert consulting services helping organizations optimize procurement processes, implement best practices, and deliver measurable cost savings and operational improvements through tailored organizational solutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA) delivers globally recognized procurement certifications through its four-level Certified Procurement Operations (CPO) series, self-paced online courses, and tiered membership subscriptions, complemented by expert procurement consulting services for organizations seeking process optimization and cost reduction.

Product overview

NLPA offers a comprehensive procurement education ecosystem centered around its Certified Procurement Operations (CPO) certification series, which includes four progressive levels: CPO Specialist (CPOS), CPO Professional (CPOP), CPO Manager (CPOM), and CPO Executive (CPOE). The organization delivers training through its Moodle-powered Learning Management System (NLPA Learning), offering full-length courses, express courses, and on-demand webinars covering topics such as supply strategy, digital transformation, supplier management, cost optimization, and contract management. Additional resources include articles, whitepapers, templates, worksheets, case studies, and the NLPA Salary Report, with tiered access based on membership level. NLPA also provides expert procurement consulting services for organizations seeking to optimize processes and improve operational outcomes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CPO Specialist (CPOS)

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CobbleStone SoftwarecoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 31 October 2025CobbleStone Software and NLPA co-host a webinar on November 5, 2025, titled 'Uniting Procurement & Contract Management for Strategic Success.' The partnership focuses on exploring how integrating procurement and contract management can enhance enterprise performance, eliminating silos, streamlining operations, and reducing risks through best practices and technology solutions.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Skillsoft: Skillsoft is a large enterprise corporate learning platform offering thousands of courses including procurement and supply chain content; broader and more diversified than NLPA, but competes for the same enterprise L&D budget for procurement upskilling.
• Coursera: Coursera partners with universities and companies to offer online courses and certificates, including supply chain and procurement programs from schools like Rutgers and Arizona State — directly competing for the same learner persona seeking recognized credentials.
• LinkedIn Learning: LinkedIn Learning offers a broad catalog of business courses including procurement topics, bundled with LinkedIn Premium subscriptions; competes with NLPA for individual learners and corporate training budgets at significantly broader scale.

Direct peers

• Procurement Leaders: Procurement Leaders operates a subscription research, events, and training community for senior procurement executives, overlapping with NLPA's executive-tier training and consulting offerings for similar CPO/Chief Procurement Officer audiences.
• Institute for Supply Management (ISM): ISM is a US-based professional association for supply management professionals offering certifications (CPSM, CPSD) and training, directly competing with NLPA in procurement certification and continuing education for the same buyer personas.
• Procurious: Procurious is an online professional network and learning platform specifically for procurement and supply chain professionals, directly comparable to NLPA's online certification and community-focused education model.
• Sourcing Industry Group (SIG): SIG is a membership organization providing procurement, sourcing, and outsourcing education, events, and resources — closely aligned with NLPA's professional development and certification focus for procurement practitioners.
• Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS): CIPS is a global professional body offering procurement and supply chain qualifications and memberships, directly comparable to NLPA's CPO certification series and membership tiers. It serves the same buyer persona (procurement professionals) with similarly tiered credentials, though it is a larger UK-headquartered chartered body.

Emerging players

• APQC (American Productivity & Quality Center): APQC is a member-based nonprofit providing benchmarks, research, and education on operational best practices including procurement, partially overlapping with NLPA's research resources and consulting practice.
• Art of Procurement: Art of Procurement operates a podcast, community, and training events focused on procurement leadership, adjacent to NLPA's webinars and executive education offerings for the same CPO buyer persona.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nextlevelpurch

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 Next Level Purchasing Association