Materials Market secures £1.5m seed funding round to accelerate growth plans

Materials Market, an online platform that connects customers and suppliers of building materials in a transparent and competitive marketplace, has secured a £1.5m seed funding round.

The funding will be used to expand its digital building materials marketplace.

Founded in November 2020 by Co-Founders Samuel Hunt and Andrew Haehn, the raise was secured from Fuel Ventures.

Shiv Patel, Investment Director at Fuel Ventures, said: “We were really impressed with the team’s knowledge of the industry and their impressive solution to the challenges faced by that particular market. They have created a platform which gives buyers the best prices, due to its large network of suppliers, and fast deliveries – which is exactly what the market needs.

“We feel it’s our responsibility to invest in the future of UK tech and by supporting forward-thinking entrepreneurs like Samuel and Andrew, we can help them to change the way building materials are bought and sold in the UK – and pass on the benefits to the end users.”

Samuel Hunt, Co-Founder & CEO at Materials Market, said: “The sector has been slower than others to move to a digital-first approach and so when we mapped out what Materials Market should represent to both suppliers and customers, it was clear we needed to deliver value for both parties. We knew that if we could create a true free market environment, where everyone got a fair chance of winning an order, it would allocate resources much more efficiently than any of the existing models operating in this space.

“From personal experience as buyers in the construction sector, we know all too well the daily struggle of contacting supplier after supplier, looking for the best price and delivery time for materials, and we wanted to break that chain with a transparent online platform. The investment from Fuel Ventures is vindication of our solution and its future potential to deliver huge value for both sides of the marketplace.”