Dutch startup Timberhub is looking to digitise a previously fragmented market allowing companies to buy timber directly from its marketplace. It’s just raised a €5.8m seed round led by HV Capital, Creandum and Speedinvest. Source: Sifted
The green building industry is worth US$459bn globally and is estimated to reach US$650bn by 2027. And it’s not just timber: companies are working on next-generation concrete that use less emissions and steel produced using hydrogen.
If you want to buy some timber, you’d typically contact suppliers you know and make a request, usually over WhatsApp or email.
It’s common not to hear back if the supplier doesn’t have the dimensions you need, says Ion Sergis, another Timberhub cofounders. It also means that the pricing structure is opaque, varying by up to 30% on the same day for the same product.
Using Timberhub, construction companies submit a request, and an algorithm allocates it to relevant suppliers. They then make an offer and Timberhub sends that back to the company, showing the best price available and the quickest delivery option.
It also runs the transport and payment process.
At present, the marketplace is active in 15 countries across the European Union, with a particular focus on Germany.
Timberhub’s model echoes a number of other B2B marketplaces popping up in Europe in the last few years. There’s also Rooser, which is trying to streamline Europe’s seafood industry, which also previously relied on fragmented email and WhatsApp deals.
Wood is a 100% renewable building material; but only if it’s sourced from sustainable forests. Because the industry has previously been so fragmented, illegally logged timber can enter the supply chain. It’s something for which Timberhub has to screen suppliers.
At present, the company is just working on soft wood varieties, like spruce or pine, but if it expands to offer other varieties — particularly tropical hardwood — then the company will also have to run checks on the levels of deforestation happening in the areas it sources wood from, and to check that the level of consumption is sustainable.
Timberhub plans to use the new funding to expand the marketplace offering to include tracking for shipments as well as payment structures.
“Procurement is the first step, then we want to become the operating system of the industry as a whole,” Mr Sergis said. “And help people understand things like when it’s the best time to procure which materials, and where construction companies should source from.”
