Berlin-based steel marketplace raises millions for expansion

Vanilla Steel, a German-based marketplace, has revealed a seed funding campaign with the aim to recruit new talent to support growth, expand to new geographies and invest in new product functionalities.

The company says it raised $4 million, in a funding led by June Fund and backed by existing investors such as Seedcamp and Mustard Seed Maze, it tells Kallanish.

Launched in 2020, Vanilla Steel is building a secondary market for excess steel, material that is in overstock and has no direct customer attached to it. Headquartered in Berlin, it facilitates transactions through weekly online auctions, in which steel suppliers can find buyers in a competitive bidding process. It claims it is already present in 50 countries with more than 100 steel suppliers who have listed 90,000 tonnes of steel during its first year of operation.

“The steel industry faces challenges that can be solved efficiently via an independent digital platform. We aim to bring more simplicity and smart data to the steel industry,” says co-founder Alexis Ducros.

Christian Koehl Germany