Bid writing has been at the heart of business-to-business and business-to-government procurement for decades. £379 billion is spent annually by the UK Government and local authorities on procuring public services – equivalent to one in every £3 of public spending. There are 40 Strategic Suppliers to the UK government, undertaking more than £100 million of contracted business a year and a further 3,000 businesses that contract more than £10 million of annual work. Even smaller companies are spending in excess of £1 million a year on bidding, including many charities and non-profits which often struggle to break into government contracts due to the prohibitive costs of competition.
The total market for tendering is estimated to be worth half a trillion dollars, including private-sector procurement. Using technology to make the process more efficient can result in big savings – bidding costs can easily account for 10% of the total contract value of a service.
AutogenAI, a revolutionary AI-powered platform that enables organisations to create high quality, persuasive bids, proposals and tenders with unprecedented speed and efficiency, claims that they could costs in the UK public sector by as much as 10%, releasing £37 billion for frontline services – slightly higher than the UK’s annual defence budget of £33 billion.
This London-based startup has just raised €20.8 million from leading European investor Blossom Capital, bringing the power of large language models and generative artificial intelligence to the world of procurement and tender writing.
AutogenAI leverages the power of generative AI to help leading companies write bids and tenders for public sector and corporate contracts covering all industry verticals, including consultancy, IT, health, transport, construction and more.
Founded in 2022 by Sean Williams who started his career as a bid writer before going on to leading roles with some of the biggest suppliers of Government services, AutogenAI has hired specialists in procurement, bid writing and machine learning and was the first company in the UK to create and hire for the role of prompt engineer.
Sean Williams, Founder of AutogenAI, said: “We build language engines that help organisations to write bids, tenders and proposals more efficiently and more effectively. Our technology augments human expertise by enhancing the power of bid writing teams. This is a clear example of AI being used for public good, reducing the cost of bidding and freeing up taxpayers’ money for the delivery of services. We’re looking forward to working closely with Blossom Capital to build on the progress we’ve achieved so far.”
AutogenAI has developed a system that uses the extraordinary capabilities of large language models (LLMs), integrating them with an organisation’s existing data. Designed to tackle the difficulties of safety, accuracy, and convenience that arise when using LLMs, AutogenAI’s platform is tailored to the problems experienced by bid writing teams. Custom-made Language Engines are built for each customer, allowing them to generate content that is backed up by publicly and privately available facts and data.
Within months of launch, AutogenAI has revolutionised the bid-writing process, reducing the time taken to write a first draft by 70%. This allows bidders to focus their energy on the strategic aspects of their bids, increasing success rates by up to 30%.
Ophelia Brown, founder of Blossom Capital, said: “It’s been quite a few years since we saw a London startup or founder that was quite so exciting as Sean and the team at AutogenAI. After launching only last year, AutogenAI has already become one of the fastest-growing generative AI companies in the UK, thanks to its unique focus on transforming the $0.5 trillion global tendering market. We’re excited to partner with the team and support them on their growth journey.”
In just six months, AutogenAI has won 28 clients, including a global management consultancy, global BPO organisations, quoted and private construction companies and facilities management businesses, as well as charities and non-profits applying for grant funding. AutogenAI will use the funding from Blossom Capital to develop its technology further and accelerate the profitable growth of the business, including international expansion.
