Lluís Canals and Aina Oto are two civil engineers with parallel lives: they studied at the same university, went to work in large companies in the construction sector and, after a few years abroad, both returned to Barcelona before the arrival of the covid. With the pandemic, Canals and Oto decided to leave their respective jobs and start on their own. "Talking about how we could improve the day-to-day life of the sector, the idea of creating a portal for buying and selling construction material arose," explains Lluís Canals. They submitted their proposal to the Bcombinator business accelerator and half a year later, in September 2022, Ok Clinker came into operation.
The startup was born with the aim of offering "a digital solution that optimizes purchases on site, which are day-to-day purchases of materials or tools necessary for a work to not stop," explains Aina Oto. On-site professionals use an application accessible from a mobile phone, while suppliers have a platform on which to upload their products.
"The digitization of the order avoids low-value administrative work and brings efficiency and transparency to the entire process," says Canals. "Our proposal is designed by and for the people on the construction site, because we know and speak the same language," adds Oto. On the other hand, Ok Clinker enables material suppliers to reach new customers.
Currently, the entrepreneurs have agreements with ten construction companies and eight suppliers of construction materials, which offer more than 25,000 references through Ok Clinker. The company operates in Catalonia, where this year it expects to mediate sales for an amount exceeding 50,000 euros. By 2024, the co-founders of this Terrassa-based startup plan to make the leap to other areas of Spain.
More in the short term, Ok Clinker is in the process of obtaining an Enisa loan of 75,000 euros and an investment round of 80,000 euros.
