Germany-based construction-tech startup Schuttflix, a digital marketplace and delivery platform for bulk construction supplies, announced that it has raised $50M (approx €43.12M) of additional funding in its Series A round of funding. The startup has already delivered more than 100,000 shipments in Germany.
The B2B platform had raised €8M in April 2020 led by venture capitalist Speedinvest.
Investors in this round
The Series A round was led by British venture capital Draper Esprit. The round also saw participation from the founders Thomas Hagedorn and CEO Christian Hülsewig, as well as from existing investors Speedinvest, HV Capital, and STRABAG.
Christoph Hornung, Investment Director, Draper Esprit says, “Over 2.5 million tonnes of construction bulk-materials delivered since its founding shows that Schüttflix works. The startup has broken into a traditionally analogue market and is creating genuine added value for its customers with a truly digital solution.”
“The business has grown by over 400 per cent since January 2021; taking the platform international is, therefore, the next logical step, and we are pleased to be at Schüttflix’s side,” he added.
Capital utilisation
Schuttflix will use the proceeds from this round to help it enter the Austrian, Polish, and Czech markets in 2022. Currently, the company claims to be laying the technical, organisational, and personnel-related foundations in order to enable its partners and customers in the new markets to efficiently access the platform.
To develop the business in the new markets, Schuttflix will rely on the regional expertise of country managers. In addition to business development, these managers will also focus on setting up country-specific customer service operations.
Schuttflix CEO & co-founder, Christian Hulsewig, explains, “Following our successful expansion in the German market this year, now is the strategically right moment for us to grow in Europe. Government investment programmes, such as the Green Deal and the post-coronavirus recovery fund, will ensure that orders in the construction industry remain strong over the long term.”
“European construction sites need a reliable and efficient supply. With Schüttflix, we have the solution. And with Draper Esprit, we have an experienced investor on board who will help us to establish this solution in as many European countries as possible,” adds Hulsewig.
Besides the expansion, the company also looks to develop its digital products and services for all aspects of construction-site supply and waste disposal in the coming months. To make this possible, the B2B platform is relying on strategic partnerships, such as with STRABAG.
A platform for bulk construction supplies
Christian Hulsewig had the idea for Schuttflix when he returned to his home country from the US after 10 years of leading positions in logistics management at Arvato and Microsoft. While working on his farm in Herford, East Westphalia, he recognised the enormous digitisation potential of the bulk goods market.
And thus along with Thomas Hagedorn, Schuttflix was founded in 2018. It is a logistics hub for the construction bulk-materials industry that works digitally and supplies sand, gravel, and grit on the spot. Its app connects suppliers and carriers directly with customers from the road construction, civil engineering, gardening, and landscaping sectors.
According to the company’s website, “Schuttflix has not only developed a perfectly functioning app in a very short time but has already achieved an eight-digit sales volume and delivered over 1 million tons of material.”
“We are currently in the process of creating an efficient market for all common bulk goods that function throughout Germany for the first time. The average monthly growth since the app was launched is over 40 per cent.”
With more than 3,500 partner companies, Schuttflix claims to already have the largest market coverage in Germany and delivers to all of North Rhine-Westphalia within four hours of ordering.
Making its management team strong and future-proof
In July 2021, Schuttflix expanded its management team and appointed Lisa Bennewitz as Head of Finance. The 35-year-old financial expert comes from the investment bank Evercore, where she advised private and listed international companies on M&A and ECM activities. Bennewitz is also a member of the Advisory Board at the Company Builder Next Mobility Labs. At Schuttflix, she advances strategic financial topics such as fundraising, reporting, and financial planning.
CEO Christian Hülsewig says, “The professionalisation of the finance department is an elementary building block for further sustainable corporate development.”
Prior to that, in April 2021, Schuttflix appointed Lars Schüttemeyer as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The 37-year-old North German Schüttemeyer comes from the multi-mobility provider FreeNow (formerly MyTaxi) and was most recently VP of Engineering there. Schuttflix claims its IT teams, under the leadership of Schüttemeyer, will continue to expand the platform into a marketplace.
Also in the same month, Schuttflix hired Alexander Rupp as its Head of Data & Business Intelligence (BI) to be responsible for the smart further development of its app. Rupp joins Schuttflix from SilverTours. As Head of Data & BI, the 31-year-old built up the BI team there over the past few years and was most recently also responsible for product development as Head of Product & BI. At Schuttflix, Rupp plans to use data and forecast models to better predict future requirements and to further increase the transparency of market participants with regard to prices and availability.
