From data pool to AI Find Suppliers — how TokoAI evolved
People sometimes ask: "You help buyers find suppliers for free — where did that even come from?" Here is the actual timeline, with dates. No spin.
2026-07-04 — The base crossed 340K companies
Through continuous import of global trade-show directories, the total company base grew from 167,000 to 341,400 (China + overseas). A 40M+ company database was used for cross-validation. More companies meant a wider net we could later match your request against.
2026-07-06 — EU public procurement data ingested
A full year of EU TED award data — 246,351 awarded companies, 178,829 with email — entered the base. For buyers this mattered because it meant more already-buying, traceable suppliers we could match. The overseas reachable pool grew from 137,200 to 357,100. (Read more)
2026-07-08 — The supplier-finding engine went live
We launched a self-built matching engine. Give it a product, and it matches three directions at once: overseas buyers, peer factories, and upstream suppliers. For a buyer, the "upstream supplier" direction is what we surface — suppliers who actually make your product type, ranked by fit.
2026-07-30 — Trade-show data verified and ingested
Canton Fair (137th/138th sessions) exhibitor and buyer data were verified and ingested. Trade-show exhibitors — the factories and trading companies behind the booths — became a first-class, audited source, and the reason exhibitors are now our priority source when matching your request.
2026-08-08 — Supplier verification (Enrichment) opened
We opened our enrichment capability: start from a company name, fill in its email, phone, and product info from public sources, and verify it. 300K+ companies enriched. For buyers this is the step that turns "a name" into "a supplier you can actually reach" — the UK importer batch (488K importers) is one example of this verification pipeline at work.
2026-08 — Free for buyers launches
With a verified supplier base, a working matching engine, and a verification pipeline, the loop was complete: tell us what you want to source → we match and verify suppliers → they respond through our channel. For overseas buyers this runs as a free service; your identity stays private until you authorize sharing. Suppliers who engage with you through our service pay per result — handled on our Chinese site.
Why free for buyers
The hard part was building the verified base and the matching engine. Once that exists, matching a buyer's request against it costs us computation, not the buyer. So the buyer side is free; the supplier side — who gains a qualified inquiry — pays. That is the whole model.
Email us what you want to source and we'll match suppliers from this base.
Frequently asked
How big is the supplier pool you match from?
We match from a large, continuously enriched base of companies — 1.61M+ in total, with 1.01M+ reachable via verified contact info, including 815K+ overseas reachable companies plus a China-based pool of 201K+ reachable suppliers. For buyers, what matters is the verified supplier side: trade-show exhibitors and other audited B2B sources we can find suppliers against your request and reach on your behalf.
Where does TokoAI's supplier data come from?
From public business databases, trade-show directories, and government procurement records, cross-checked into a reachable, high-quality supplier pool that we build and maintain ourselves.
How do I start as a buyer?
Email toko@51toko.com with what you want to source — product, spec, or category. The more detail you give, the sharper the match: a clear spec or reference supplier gets you closer-fit results than a one-line note. Everything is delivered over email: no platform to operate, no sign-up. We find suppliers for you, while your identity and contact stay private — suppliers see your sourcing request so they can judge fit, but only reach out once you authorize us to share your contact.