“Enviromate Stands For Change”, Says Co-Founder Reiss Salustro-Pilson

Describe Enviromate in 50 words or less.

Enviromate, The Marketplace with a mission to reduce, reusable construction waste.

How did you come up with the idea?

Both founders have worked at various levels within the construction industry, so the idea really came from witnessing firsthand the vast amounts of reusable material that end up in a skip and subsequently go into landfill. Such waste amounts to some 120 million tonnes per year in the UK alone, so with our shared passion for sustainable and environmental-focused construction and a transition to a circular economy, we set about developing a solution to tackle a societal and environmental situation that would enable the construction industry to reuse surplus and leftover materials.

Enviromate was created as a P2P marketplace for tradespeople, builders and DIY enthusiasts to buy and sell surplus and leftover materials. Alongside a donation area that enables larger developers to provide their larger amounts of surplus materials to community projects and charities across the country.

What were the biggest challenges you faced building your startup?

Along with being in full-time employment throughout the first six months of Enviromate going live, one of the biggest challenges for any startup not just ours is gaining awareness in your target market, especially working with limited budgets and experience. However, for launching a marketplace business there is the added challenge of balancing out supply and demand in the early stages. It is a classic chicken and egg situation – it makes it imperative that we hit critical mass early on, whilst making sure the platform can make live adjustments to cope with this growth stage period.

Bootstrapped or financed: What fuels your startup now and what will in the future?

Enviromate since its creation up until this point has be entirely bootstrapped and self funded. We have invested time and capital raising the startup to continued heights whilst retaining our mission and cementing our core values. From our initial version one offering through to version two… Evolving and adapting to what our users have wanted to see from the website and the growth of the brand itself. This has allowed us to funnel the right amounts of capital into areas of the business as it has evolved.

The future brings exciting possibilities with the impending launch of version 3 of the platform with subscription based revenue models will see a large amount of growth capital generated through this medium. From then on we hope to explore various external investment in the form of seed funding to really capitalise on the global market opportunity the Enviromate can realise.

In what ways do you measure your success and how do you make sure you don’t lose track?

We have a clear strategy, in both the – short and long term. Raising a marketplace and achieving critical mass early on whilst constantly evolving and adapting to our users requirements is pivotal in retaining and growing our member base both in the UK and across the globe. With this growth our success really comes hand in hand as our initial goal set out to provide a technology based solution to a global environmental issue. Enviromate stands for change. The protection of our resources and environment – the more our site grows and is used then we will stay on track to achieving what we set out to do.

With ferocious competition and a booming trend to build new companies: How do you make sure you don’t get lost in the shuffle?

Whilst there are multiple horizontal marketplaces across the world. Enviromate is a targeted, vertical platform that can grow to rival some of the largest names. Within one of the largest industries in the world, coupled with the notion that that industry is the largest contributor to waste – Enviromate stands at the forefront of not only becoming Contruction’s Local Marketplace but most importantly through our mission disrupts an industries current practices.

What do you look for in team members?

A passion and drive to make a positive impact within our business and the planet.

Why would a talent join your team?

Because the fulfilment of not only working within a fresh vibrant and exciting startup with potential of becoming a globally recognised brand but most importantly the notion that even single day the more our business grows the bigger impact we will have not just on our environment but the planet as a whole. That fulfilment alone that you would become apart of a collective team that will become recognised for igniting and driving real change.

What was your most memorable moment so far?

Being recognised for our environmental efforts. We were nominees for the Observer Ethical Awards Green Briton of the Year in 2015 after just six months in business which was a huge achievement, but it also gave us a massive boost in confidence that people across the country shared our vision of a more sustainable industry. We pride ourselves on the positive feedback we get from users and industry professionals, and the support we get from multinational corporations shows they share in our global mission to change the environmental impact of the construction industry.

7 years from now: How did your startup change the world?

We have already helped over twenty projects across the UK along with over 10,000 users already buying and selling material on the marketplace itself. Actively contributing to a waste conscious industry but within 7 years we would like to have made a positive impact on the reduction of waste in the built environment, not only in the UK but globally. Our mission is to reduce the reusable materials that are being unnecessarily landfilled and the industry’s reliance on extracting more of the planet’s finite natural resources, and we sincerely hope that we achieve this in less than 7 years whilst raising the worlds next multinational marketplace brand!

We are aiming to develop the brand across the globe and build a reputation as the home of construction material reuse. We want to become the largest vertical marketplace and rival the household names in the market, whilst becoming a resource to educate to industry on the benefits of green and environmentally focused construction practices.

What advice would you give fellow founders for their startup?

Dream, Believe, Achieve!

Running, raising and growing a startup venture is a huge challenge and requires a level of determination and passion if you want to succeed. Having and running your own venture is not a walk in the park and you switching off at 5pm is not an option. But another thing no one tells you about running your own business is it is extremely fulfilling, and the kind of pride you get from growing a brand from an idea to a fully working business is unattainable from a ‘job’.

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