Crown Secures €2M to Revolutionize Procurement with Innovative eAuctions “`

Paris, France Feb 27, 2025 – Crown, a Paris-based startup innovating procurement negotiations through ethical eAuctions, has secured €2 million in pre-seed funding. The funding round was spearheaded by Heartfelt, with contributions from Kima Ventures, Backbone Ventures, Another.vc, Apok Invest, ZAS Ventures, Prequel VC, and Bpifrance. Strategic angel investors such as Dr. Marcell Vollmer (former COO, SAP Ariba), Christophe Villain (Nestlé), and Mario Götze also participated.

Procurement can represent up to 60% of an industrial company’s revenue, yet negotiations are often slow, manual, and inefficient. Crown replaces these outdated methods with a streamlined eAuction process, enabling buyers and suppliers to finalize agreements in just 20 minutes while upholding fairness and transparency.

Crown was established by Mykyta Voytenko, a procurement specialist with 15 years of experience at Nestlé, Engie, and Sanofi. After leading over 300 eAuctions for leading FMCG companies and training 2,500 procurement experts, he identified the industry’s need for a more efficient and ethical negotiation method.

Since its launch in 2024, Crown has:

• Implemented eAuction programs with four clients, allowing them to conduct nearly 50% of their spending through auctions.
• Organized numerous eAuctions involving hundreds of suppliers.
• Achieved an average savings of 9% for clients.

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and currently based in Paris, Voytenko has built Crown into a company grounded in resilience and global collaboration, with half of its team located in Ukraine.

While eAuctions are Crown’s initial focus, the long-term objective is to develop an AI-driven procurement suite to further improve efficiency and decision-making.

Investors are supportive of this vision:

• Heartfelt: “Crown is not just streamlining processes; it’s revolutionizing how procurement generates value.” – Joerg Rheinboldt
• Prequel VC: “Crown’s modern, software-based approach to eAuctions unlocks significant savings opportunities.” – Mathias Bosse
• Kima Ventures: “Crown is transforming procurement negotiations.” – Alexis Robert

With this funding, Crown plans to expand across European B2B sectors, including manufacturing, FMCG, pharmaceuticals, and construction.

For additional details, please visit or follow Crown on .