Metalshub, the digital platform for buyers and sellers of metals and ferroalloys, managed to almost fivefold its platform turnover in 2019 to reach 100 million euro.
The word that perfectly describes the year 2019 for Metalshub is “growth”. The digital metal marketplace was able to grow to 100 million euro of legally binding contracts concluded over the platform, a fivefold increase compared to the 20 million euro achieved in 2018.
Metalshub was founded in December 2016 by former Anglo American executives Dr. Frank Jackel and Dr. Sebastian Kreft with the mission to provide innovative technology to make it easier to buy and sell metals. The company celebrated its second launch anniversary in December 2019 and completed 24 months of platform operations without any technical down-time. Meanwhile, adoption of Metalshub has been faster than expected. Already more than 650 companies from 66 countries are using Metalshub to buy and sell 17 product categories, such as molybdenum, manganese or chrome. “Using the Metalshub platform enables Magotteaux to conclude contracts digitally”, Lucas Netto, Group Supply Chain Manager at Magotteaux points out. “This is an opportunity for Magotteaux and our partners to create a more efficient workflow.” Another highlight of 2019 was the development of the multi-delivery feature. The feature was well received by the users and companies such as MAT Foundry Group which have used it to conclude all of its 2020 annual contracts exclusively over Metalshub.
It takes a team effort to deliver such impressive growth, so it is not surprising that also the team of Metalshub has grown considerably: While in January 10 team members were working towards the shared vision, the team grew out of the office twice in the following months and had to move into bigger ones. In the new headquarter in Düsseldorf at “Platz der Ideen”, there are now 24 colleagues from 10 different countries who work together in order to achieve the common vision: To create the leading global marketplace for metals and become an innovation leader in the metals and mining industry.
In 2018, Chromo Invest and Point Nine along with a number of business angels invested €3 million in Metalshub’s seed financing round. Pawel Chudzinski, Partner at Point Nine Capital comments on Metalshub‘s progress: “At Point Nine we are looking for founders who show a deep understanding of the nature of the problem they are trying to solve. Frank and Sebastian have lived the problem and have proven that there is a large business around addressing the pain points. The strong growth in 2019 can be attributed to a stellar team, a focus on execution and the unifying vision to create a digital marketplace which leads to a more efficient market.”
Metalshub adds value for buyers and sellers: Buyers benefit from a modern tool to manage the purchase process and an extended reach to suppliers globally. Sellers on the other hand, can reduce their customer acquisition costs as well as streamlining their internal processes. By boosting operational efficiency, Metalshub decreases transaction costs for both buyers and sellers and helps the traditional metal industry to catapult itself into the digital age. Last but not least, by providing a global platform, Metalshub strengthens fair competition, the best method of allocating resources in a free market.
“We thank all our users, supporters and in fact also our sceptics.”, emphasises Sebastian Kreft. “They all motivate us to work hard every day and make it easier, faster and safer for our users to buy and sell metals!”
