Over a decade ago, Jeff Booth and Rob Banks had an all too familiar experience during a home renovation – costs were soaring, delays were mounting, and there was a significant lack of transparency associated with procuring building materials. Jeff and Rob recognized that the process of bringing building materials to market was complex for suppliers, shippers, and retailers but they could not understand why it had to be so complex for purchasers.
Around the same time, consumers were experiencing the birth of e-commerce. With a few clicks of a mouse, the products you wanted were arriving at your door, at a cost you agreed to, in a timeframe that was predictable. Witnessing this revolution taking place and frustrated with their own building material procurement experience, Jeff and Rob did what every great entrepreneur would; they created a solution and founded BuildDirect.com.
BuildDirect is an e-commerce company servicing the building materials market. The overall e-commerce market is growing at an exponential rate and the building supplies market is underserved. We believe BuildDirect is well positioned to become the leader in this space. In the time since the company was founded, BuildDirect has focused on creating the best experience for suppliers, distributors and purchasers.
To accomplish this BuildDirect has built best-in-class data analytics technology. This technology improves logistics, increases margins for manufacturers, reduces costs for end consumers and drives significant value for all. Additionally, this data allows the company and manufacturers to be highly efficient in bringing new products and services to the market, thereby driving significant growth.
We’re excited to join Jeff, Rob and their management team, who have over 10 years of industry expertise. This experience, along with the significant market opportunity and the company’s big data approach, uniquely positions BuildDirect to become the market leader in building supplies e-commerce.
For your next renovation or building experience be sure to check out www.builddirect.com.
Derek Smyth, Managing Director, OMERS Ventures