Concrete delivery startup Brokrete sets foundations for growth with $500K funding – Ottawa Business Journal
Summary
The delivery process has always been the same since my father and grandfather, he says.It wasnt until a few years ago when Latourelle was faced with a cancer diagnosis that he realized the nagging thoughts in the back of his mind couldnt wait any longer. While undergoing treatment he sold his company to his brother and, seeing the rise of sharing economy apps such as Uber and Airbnb, set to work on a mission to simplify the delivery of concrete materials.I told myself that there could be that application that would improve and completely change the dynamic of my industry, he says. Recently, it closed a $500,000 pre-seed round with angel investors Ronald Richardson of Ottawa and Avlok Kohli of San Francisco.While contemporary apps such as Uber solve the one-phone-call problem of ordering a taxi, Latourelle says, Brokrete is saving contractors upwards of five or six calls to get concrete delivered to a job site. Co-ordinating between suppliers, on-site workers and truck drivers can quickly become a time suck for contractors, some of which are placing multiple orders a day.The application is more complicated than a simple user interface, Latourelle says. Once a concrete supplier is using a fleet of more than 20 trucks, the premium version of the app kicks in, giving the firm its cut.The company has seen some early uptake from major players in the construction industry: Concrete giant Lafarge is signed up to supply materials in Ottawa-Gatineau.Richardson, who invests with Ottawas Capital Angel Network, says that while he never expected hed be getting involved in a construction materials marketplace company, there are a lot of things to like about Brokrete.He was impressed with the returns the company was seeing on its sweat equity with only a few thousand dollars invested in the bootstrapped firm, it was seeing exponential returns before scaling even began.In addition to that early market fit, what impressed Richardson most was Latourelle himself.You could just read the enthusiasm, the tenaciousness and the depth of knowledge in the industry, being a third-generation concrete businessperson, he says.After setting solid foundations in Ottawa-Gatineau, Brokrete plans to tackle Torontos construction industry in the coming months.