Coupa has taken over Tonkean, a workflow automation startup, as part of its push to make business purchasing run with minimal human involvement.
The move extends Coupa’s reach across its network of 3,500 corporate buyers and 10 million suppliers, giving them a single system that handles everything from raising a purchase request to issuing payment.
For CEO Leagh Turner, the logic is straightforward. Running autonomous trade at scale needs three things: solid orchestration, reliable workflows, and trustworthy data. Between this deal and last year’s Rossum acquisition, she believes Coupa now has all of them.
Tonkean is the fourth company Coupa has bought in this strategic push, after Cirtuo, Scoutbee, and Rossum.
What changes in practice
Tonkean lets employees raise and track requests by typing in plain language — something the company says more than doubles how many people actually use the system. Behind the scenes, it coordinates multiple AI agents working in parallel, cuts approval and processing times in half, and frees up roughly 30 hours of manual work per team each week.
Its no-code builder and 250-plus ready-made connectors mean companies can wire it into their existing tools without tearing anything out.
Tonkean CEO Sagi Eliyahu said joining Coupa opens up possibilities that neither business could pursue independently.
Anyone wanting to see how the two platforms work together can catch a live walkthrough on June 4th.