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When Jaden Kostogiannis first hacked together an inventory app with a co-worker, he didn’t expect it to outshine a $100k ERP system. But that’s exactly what happened.

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"We were just running everything on spreadsheets," he says, recalling his time in the automotive parts distribution world. "We'd make constant errors, lose track of stock. It was chaos. So the company invested in this big fancy system — but after three years, we were actually slower."

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That inefficiency planted the seed for Lecxa, a startup Jaden launched in early 2025 to help small businesses manage their inventory without the pain (and price tag) of traditional software.

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Lecxa’s origin story isn’t just about a better tool. It’s about watching a broken system up close, then building something radically simpler.

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"We built this internal tool that let staff scan items in and out and see stock levels in real-time," Jaden explains. "And they loved it. Used it more than the expensive system. That’s when I realised - we weren’t the only business stuck in this weird middle zone: too big for spreadsheets, too small for large-scale software."

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During our call mid-May, Jaden reflected that globally, poor inventory management costs businesses trillions. In APAC alone, it's half a trillion due to overstocking and stockouts. "Most people don’t even realise how much they’re losing," Jaden says. "On average, it's 11% of yearly revenue. That's massive."

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Lecxa aims to bring small businesses closer to the operational sophistication of Amazon or Temu. "The only way they compete is by being agile. They need visibility. They need control. That’s what we’re building." Though still in early development, Lecxa already has 4-5 early testers and a sales pipeline of 8-10 interested businesses.

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"We’re building this with them, not for them. We’re listening to their problems and designing with real use cases in mind. Once we lock in our core features, we’ll be ready to scale."

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At the time of our conversation, Jaden had just wrapped up his time with our pre-accelerator, Launch Club, an experience which he described has been “deeply transformative” both for himself as a founder and for Lecxa’s progress. "We went from nothing to a website, an MVP, and real validation from customers and investors," he says. "Pitch Night gave me this real confidence boost. It made Lecxa feel legitimate.

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"I used to think startups were just for the Zuckerbergs of the world. But now I know it's about resilience. Just not giving up. If you keep going, you can’t really fail."

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What’s next for Lecxa?

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In Jaden’s words, more building, more shipping and possibly a co-founder in the works? Lecxa’s call to action is clear: if you're a small business drowning in spreadsheets, Jaden wants to hear from you. Early access is open, and he's building fast.

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Subscribe to Jaden's new newsletter 'Stock Takes', chatting all things from supply chain and logistics to inventory and warehousing.

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🔗 Learn more about Lecxa and connect with Jaden.

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