Funk Futures and VenLink Partner to Revolutionize Third-Party Risk Management in Energy Sector

Strategic alliance combines AI-powered vendor intelligence and risk management with industry expertise to drive operational efficiency

AUSTIN, Texas – May 7th, 2025: Funk Futures, a leading growth consultancy for energy companies, today announced a strategic partnership with VenLink, the AI-driven vendor management platform transforming third-party risk management. This collaboration will empower oil and gas organizations to modernize vendor onboarding, enhance compliance oversight, and achieve significant operational efficiencies.

As macroeconomic conditions tighten and commodity price volatility increases, energy companies are under mounting pressure to “do more with less.” Enhancing operational efficiency and reducing overhead have become business imperatives, particularly when managing sprawling vendor ecosystems amid growing compliance and financial demands.

The energy sector faces mounting challenges in managing complex vendor networks while maintaining compliance and cost controls. VenLink’s platform addresses these pain points through automated vendor credentialing, real-time compliance monitoring, and centralized risk management. Funk Futures will leverage its deep industry knowledge to help energy companies implement these solutions effectively and maximize their return on investment.

VenLink’s platform delivers comprehensive vendor management capabilities, including automated onboarding workflows that reduce processing time from weeks to days. The system maintains continuous compliance monitoring across safety, financial, and other contractual requirements while offering useful insights through its analytics tools, with AI-driven features continuing to evolve.

Early adopters of VenLink’s platform have reported significant results, including a 16% reduction in insurance premiums, more than 80% faster vendor onboarding times, and measurable progress in addressing the 5% of total expenses commonly lost to vendor fraud.

"Today’s Oil and Gas companies look to streamline their vendor management - primarily around reducing fraud and risk.," said Jeremy Funk, CEO at Funk Futures. "VenLink’s technology eliminates manual processes and provides unprecedented visibility into third-party relationships. Our partnership ensures energy companies can deploy these solutions rapidly and realize tangible business benefits."

"Energy companies lose millions annually to inefficient vendor processes," noted Mark Brown, Founder and CEO at VenLink. "By combining our technology with Funk Futures’ sector expertise and network, we’re creating a turnkey solution that transforms vendor management from a cost center to a strategic advantage."

The partnership specifically targets upstream producers managing extensive contractor networks, midstream operators coordinating complex supplier relationships, and energy enterprises requiring enterprise-wide vendor standardization.

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For more information about Funk Futures, visit www.funkfutures.com. To learn more about VenLink and their services, visit https://venlink.com/