chembid

Why did you found your start-up, what problem are you addressing and how are you solving it?

The chemical industry - despite being one of the largest industries in the world - is still somewhat stuck in old habits when it comes to marketing and sales. The opportunities offered by digitalization are not being used by many players and many opportunities are disappearing.

Chembid wants to help chemical companies to be present on the Internet and benefit from online marketing measures. With a new generation of professional buyers comes new demands. By being listed on the chembid platform, companies are found by buyers searching for suppliers on the Internet via digital channels. The number of search queries carried out by these buyers will increase steadily and this channel will therefore become more important. Therefore, we would like to provide this group with a tool that creates transparency by collecting the available technical and commercial information of suppliers of chemicals and chemical substances.

How did you come up with the idea of founding your start-up?

The idea of founding chembid came from several minds and was based on the growing need to apply digital transformation to the chemical industry.

What is special about your business model, what do you do differently?

With our metasearch engine, we are a step above all the marketplaces out there. By collecting and aggregating suitable results from marketplaces and individual webshops, we are able to offer buyers and suppliers in the chemical industry more transparency and thus added value.

What were the biggest challenges you had to overcome at the beginning?

In the beginning, many companies did not recognize the urgency of tackling digital marketing & sales projects today rather than at a diffuse point in time. One of the biggest challenges was certainly to sensitize those responsible in the companies to this situation.

What was the most valuable piece of advice someone gave you during your start-up phase?

"When it comes to innovation, an ounce of execution is worth more than a ton of theory" Phil McKinney, former CTO of HP

What has been your biggest success so far?

In terms of the number of products, we are now the largest database for chemical products in the world and have achieved user growth of over 800% in 2018.

What is the next challenge for you?

Our biggest challenge today is to continue to grow as we did in 2018.

Why are you on Startbase?

We are always looking to connect with other players in the start-up and business world. This platform is a great way to get in touch!

What would you recommend to other founders?

Be persistent, patient and loud.

What has really gone wrong since the company was founded?

The first approach with our marketplace was just not unique enough in the idea. We've learned from that and taken it up a notch with our new metasearch approach.

Let's say you were the reigning mayor of Oldenburg for a day, what would you change?

I would create more spaces and more events where start-ups and established companies can meet and learn from each other in an informal environment.