From data pool to AI Find Suppliers — how TokoAI evolved
People sometimes ask: "You help buyers find suppliers — 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 — Buyer-side service 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 service; your identity stays private until you authorize sharing.
How the model works
The hard part was building the verified base and the matching engine. Once that exists, matching a buyer's request against it is work we can scope up front. The supplier side — who gains a qualified inquiry — is priced on our Chinese site. 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 an existing base we build and continuously enrich — 1.71M+ in total, with 1.04M+ reachable via verified contact info, including 819K+ overseas reachable companies plus a China-based pool of 224K+ reachable suppliers. For buyers, what matters is the verified supplier side: Chinese trade-show exhibitors and other audited B2B sources we can match against your request and reach on your behalf. This is the existing base, not a fixed limit: if the market or category you need isn't in it yet, we collect and enrich it on demand.
Where does TokoAI(51Toko)'s supplier data come from?
From public business databases, Chinese trade-show exhibitor directories, and government procurement records, cross-checked into a reachable, high-quality pool of China-based suppliers 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.