Felux, the B2B marketplace and supply-chain platform for steel and other metals based in Cleveland, has raised $19.5 million during its first institutional funding round.
The spinoff from Pepper Pike, Ohio-based steel service center Majestic Steel Co. plans to use the new capital to accelerate its growth and product offerings, as well as its employee headcount in the coming months, Felux said in a statement.
The steel and metal markets are among the last major industries to turn digital, using paper to do more than 95% of their transactions. Steel companies and manufacturers grapple with outdated quoting and negotiation processes and a lack of transparency on the movement of goods, the tech company said.
Felux digitizes elements of the supply chain, enabling steel and metal buyers and sellers to source, buy, ship and finance products digitally, Felux said.
The platform also enables customers to share inventory through digital channels and get access to freight and lane pricing in real-time, providing visibility across the industrial supply chain, the tech company said.
Felux already has expanded into aluminum and is planning to bring other adjacent markets, such as copper, stainless steel and scrap metal, onto its platform, it said.
"Felux is the future of the industrial supply chain," said Dallas Hogensen, CEO of Felux, in his company's statement.
Felux has raised $24.5 million in the last 10 months and has experienced rapid growth, facilitating $454 million of transactions on the platform in 2021, up from $65 million in 2020, the company said.
Its digital platform has 1,000 customers, including several Fortune 500 manufacturers, as well as steel mills and service centers in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the company said.
The funding round was led by EquipmentShare and joined by Signia Venture Partners, Suffolk Construction, Expa, Lightbank, 8VC and JumpStart Ventures, the venture capital division of Cleveland venture developer JumpStart Inc., among others, Felux said.
