Procurement platform Zip, run by Greenbax Inc., and digital contract management startup Ironclad Inc. today announced a strategic partnership and new integration that they say will provide customers with a unified procurement experience across their platforms.

The two-way integration enables employees to initiate a spending request through Zip that is then automatically routed, along with the accompanying contract, to Ironclad for legal review and approval. When approval is given, contracts are then transferred back to Zip to finalize the spend approval workflow.

The new integration is said to give teams real-time insight into the status of all purchase approvals. It allows for clear communication and configuration of workflows across both platforms.

Through the partnership and integration, users align procurement and legal approvals while reducing workflow complexity with additional oversight controls and a reduction in touch points involved in a transaction. Joint customers also benefit from insights that can assist in improving business processes from unique data collected during the lifecycle of both the contracting process in Ironclad and the procurement process in Zip.

“The bridge between spend approvals and legal review has historically been disjointed – lacking proper collaboration, communication and visibility into where approvals are at any given moment,” Steven Yan, senior vice president of product at Ironclad, said in a statement. “This new integration allows Zip and Ironclad users to collaborate seamlessly and provide invaluable insights throughout the process.”

Rujul Zaparde, co-founder and chief executive office of Zip, added that the “partnership with Ironclad combines two best-of-breed solutions to streamline processes and reduce friction for our joint customers,” creating “new efficiencies between contract management and the broader procurement workflows to save our customers time and money.”

Both Zip and Ironclad a venture capital-backed companies. Ironclad’s last round, $150 million on a $3.2 billion valuation, was raised in January from Franklin Templeton, BOND, YC Continuity, Emergence, Lux, Haystack, Accel and Sequoia Capital. Zip has raised $81.2 million to date, according to Crunchbase, from investors including Y Combinator Continuity Fund, Tiger Global and CRV.

Zip was previously in the news in August when it added a new renewal feature to its software that provides procurement and information technology managers with advance notice on pending renewals and automated renewals of licenses and contracts.

Photo: Pixabay