Coupa

Coupa Software Incorporated

Company type	Private
Industry	Technology, Software, Internet Software & Services
Founded	2006 (2006)
Founder	Dave Stephens, Noah Eisner
Headquarters	Foster City , United States
Area served	Worldwide (including Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific)
Key people	Leagh Turner (CEO), Mike Agresta (CFO), Salvatore Lombardo (CPTO)
Products	Spend management applications, procurement software, supply chain design solutions
Parent	Thoma Bravo
Website	www.coupa.com

Coupa Software Incorporated is a U.S.-based technology company focused on AI-enhanced total spend management and supply chain solutions. Its headquarters are located in Foster City, California, with additional offices spanning Europe, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific region. Coupa equips enterprises with advanced tools to improve spending transparency and control, streamline supply chain operations, and optimize cash flow management.

Established in 2006 by entrepreneurs Dave Stephens and Noah Eisner, Coupa offers a comprehensive suite of spend management applications that cover procurement, sourcing, travel and expense management, treasury and payments, as well as supply chain design. The company’s approach integrates artificial intelligence to provide businesses with strategic advantages in managing corporate expenditures and enhancing supply chain effectiveness.

Coupa debuted on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2016 under the ticker symbol COUP, marking a pivotal stage in its expansion. In February 2023, the private equity firm Thoma Bravo completed an $8 billion acquisition to take Coupa private. Since November 2023, Leagh Turner has held the CEO position, bringing focused leadership to advance global operations and increase market presence within the Internet Software & Services sector. Key members of the executive team also include CFO Mike Agresta and CPTO Salvatore Lombardo.

History

Coupa was founded by Dave Stephens and Noah Eisner in 2006. Rob Bernshteyn assumed the role of CEO in February 2009. Later that year, in September 2009, the company raised $7.5 million through Series C financing.

In May 2014, SAP’s subsidiary Ariba initiated legal action against Coupa alleging trade secret theft; this dispute was resolved by September 2015 with Coupa paying an undisclosed settlement and agreeing to compliance protocols. During that year, Coupa expanded its international footprint by establishing operations in Dublin, Ireland.

The company accelerated growth via acquisitions: in 2015 it acquired ZenPurchase (procurement software), InvoiceSmash (electronic invoicing), and TripScanner (travel management). In January 2016, Coupa added Contractually—a cloud-based contract management provider—to its portfolio. In 2020, it acquired LLamasoft for $1.5 billion to enhance AI-driven supply chain design capabilities.

In 2021, Coupa launched Coupa Ventures, a $50 million venture capital fund aimed at investing in startups aligned with its strategic objectives.

By May 2022, Coupa upgraded its procurement platform with analytics features designed to monitor Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions reductions to support supplier sustainability initiatives.

In December 2022, Thoma Bravo completed a $6.15 billion cash acquisition of Coupa, valuing the enterprise at approximately $8 billion.

After serving as CEO and chairman for 14 years, Rob Bernshteyn stepped down in May 2023. Leagh Turner—formerly co-CEO of Ceridian—was appointed CEO in November 2023. Salvatore Lombardo joined as Chief Product and Technology Officer in September 2024 to lead product innovation and technology strategy efforts.

Technology

Coupa’s cloud-native total spend management platform manages procurement, payment processing, and supply chain activities. Its community-powered AI utilizes anonymized data representing $7 trillion in combined indirect and direct spend to generate data-driven insights that improve decision-making and profitability. This platform supports key performance indicators while connecting a network of 3,500 buyers with over 10 million suppliers globally—including prominent firms such as Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Adidas, Amazon, BNP Paribas, TD Bank, and Microsoft.

The company introduced its first free open-source tool, Coupa Express, in 2006 followed by the SaaS solution Coupa On Demand for small to mid-sized enterprises in 2007. In 2011, Coupa launched Spend Optimizer for spend analysis. By 2014 it had expanded functionality with Coupa Inventory to increase inventory transparency and minimize unnecessary expenditures.

Coupa enhanced its supply chain offerings through the acquisition of LLamasoft in 2020, integrating AI-powered supply chain design technologies into its platform. The introduction of Community.ai in 2022 enabled benchmarking capabilities and prescriptive operational guidance based on community data insights. That same year saw Coupa achieve FedRAMP Moderate certification, broadening its appeal within government sectors.

In 2023, Coupa released a supply chain collaboration tool aimed at optimizing direct spend by enhancing buyer-supplier interaction and mitigating operational risks. September 2024 brought the launch of Coupa Navi—a generative AI assistant providing instant responses to business queries—and Contract Intelligence—an AI-driven solution offering risk-aware clause recommendations alongside automated legal documentation management.

Looking forward, the CPTO announced plans for 2024 to develop an autonomous AI agent ecosystem designed to oversee data assets, facilitate buyer-seller engagements, and recommend transactions—further strengthening Coupa’s leadership in spend management technologies.