Meet Neeral Shah, founder and CEO of YardLink

Neeral Shah is the founder and CEO of YardLink, a B2B marketplace digitising the $1TN construction supply chain. A former investment banking analyst, his idea to launch the business came while providing trade finance for construction buyers around the world, as he noticed the problems the industry faced: fragmented supply chains and inefficient procurement strategies.

Following that experience, Neeral then started working at a high-growth tech startup in the UK, where he discovered the power of digital marketplaces and network effects. Connecting these two experiences, he knew there had to be a better, digital solution to one of the construction industry’s biggest challenges with supply chains. That was when he decided to create YardLink.

What inspired you to launch your business and what is the end goal?

Every entrepreneur has a unique mix of experiences that inspires them to launch a business. For me, that was a combination of working with the traditional construction industry as well as a fast-growing tech startup.

I was providing supply chain finance for construction buyers around the world, and it was here that I noticed the problems the industry faced: fragmented supply chains and inefficient procurement strategies. Construction firms were spending way too much of their resources just getting hold of the right equipment and materials.

I then joined a tech startup and, connecting the two, knew there had to be a better solution to one of the construction industry’s biggest challenges. That was when I decided to create YardLink - a digital platform to accelerate procurement and reduce costs for construction firms. It’s hard to picture the end goal, but for now we’re super focused on building the best procurement experience for the industry, and enabling our customers to source products faster, cheaper and more sustainably.

What does your business offer its target audience?

We provide customers - construction firms - with access to a vetted network of equipment, materials, fuel, and waste management suppliers in the areas local to their sites. It’s a single platform that they can use to order, pay for, and track their supplies with next-day delivery on thousands of items, all while reducing their carbon footprint.

We work with the best suppliers in the industry, offering them a lucrative and risk free channel to increase their revenue.

What’s the most common problem your customers approach you with?

Construction planning is very complex, with the average project running 80% over budget and 20 months behind scheduled completion. Most of this can be boiled down to a lack of communication or coordination between the various stakeholders, as a typical project will have 50-70 subcontractors on site at any given time. This chaotic environment means procurement is very reactive. In fact seventy percent of orders are required on site within 24 hours.

The challenge is, the industry’s current procurement processes cannot keep up. Suppliers often struggle to fulfil orders because they lack the inventory or delivery vehicles on such short lead times. This increases on-site delays and sometimes forces construction firms to use expensive, distant suppliers. Almost all of our customers come to us having experienced this problem.

We digitise the entire network of contractors and suppliers to improve communication and coordination. It allows construction firms to find quality, nearby resources from a network of over 1,700 depots. And, it offers suppliers the opportunity to connect with new clients.

With all the success stories around entrepreneurship and how innovative people have to be to take the leap. How do you think you’ve innovated your sector and why?

Construction is the second-least digitised industry in the world, after agriculture. The majority of procurement is still done by pen, paper, email and fax, which means there is a massive productivity gap between construction and other industries, like manufacturing, which have adopted technology to improve efficiency and output.

We are bringing innovation to the construction sector by digitising the $1 trillion supply chain. This has enabled customers to reduce costs and accelerate their projects. It has also enabled the sector to source equipment and materials more sustainably - 95% of YardLink’s current orders are delivered within 15 miles of their destinations, reducing suppliers’ and contractors’ overall carbon emissions.

What plans do you have for YardLink over the next two years?

We recently closed our $17.5m Series A funding round, which we’ll use to expand the variety of products available on our platform, as well as build real-time connectivity with the construction supply chain. We’re also building out our team with plans to double our team size over the next 12-18 months.

How important is company culture and what is your top tip to get it right?

Our company culture is incredibly important to me - we have a fantastic team that is friendly, transparent and results-oriented. Each individual is highly ambitious, but not to the detriment of others. They’re incredibly caring and all embody our six cultural values: build trust; be bold; be curious; empower others; care deeply; own it.

Not only are we a flexible bunch with team members of different departments jumping in to help colleagues when there’s a particularly big demand for new orders, for example, but we also try to give everyone the opportunity to work in the area they’re passionate about. Recently, we supported a move of someone from our operations team into a marketing role.

Does your company help the community that you’re located in?

As a national business, we try to support communities and the construction industry throughout the country. On one hand, we help small businesses expand by offering them opportunities to work with a larger pool of customers, while also supporting them to achieve their sustainability goals.

We also actively support charities that provide emotional, physical and financial wellbeing assistance to construction workers and their families. For example, this month we’ll be donating a portion of our profits to the Lighthouse Club.

What impact would you like to have on women around the world through your business?

The construction industry, like many traditional industries, has been slower to adapt and drive change to address the gender diversity imbalance - only 11% of its workforce are women. The skills shortages, and slowing industry growth, means increasing the representation of women across the sector has never been more important.

As an industry, we must make a concerted effort to bring in new faces and perspectives, which in turn will attract more talent and increase profitability. One of the ways to do this is through digitisation - not only will it increase the number of opportunities for women, and unlock new progression paths, it will help ensure the construction industry thrives in the future.

At YardLink, we want to be leaders in this process and work towards breaking down barriers and helping to create an inclusive environment.

What are some ways in which you are breaking data and analytics to find opportunity / strengthen processes?

We continue to invest heavily in our data infrastructure and analytics, to drive insights and process improvements. Most of the decisions we make on a day to day basis are backed by data.

One area that we are utilising data in is the measurement of all of our processes within our customer success team. We’ve been able to identify opportunities to up-sell or cross-sell and enter new product categories, as well as areas to improve our service levels overall.

How do you believe the evolution of tech will impact your industry over the next 10 years?

Tech is going to have a massive impact on the construction industry over the next decade as digital processes are embraced. It hasn’t been the quickest adoption so far, however we’re seeing a bigger uptake with younger generations joining. We’re seeing so many issues at the moment around the supply chain, which no doubt will take years to recover following challenges faced from Brexit, the pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. Developments in tech in construction means that procurement will become a smoother process - and one that is cheaper and more sustainable as a result.

Most decisions will soon be driven by data analytics. Contractors will create more efficient processes as a result. This will allow them to spend more of their budgets on high-quality construction and further innovation.

How do you prepare for an AI centric world?

At YardLink, we’re firm believers that AI, used in the right way, has the potential to unlock productivity in every industry. AI tools, like ChatGPT and Midjourney to name a couple, are already showing us how the future of work will change forever, and hopefully for the better. It’s not a matter of replacing jobs, but enabling the workforce to focus on complex problems and more impactful work.

In construction, AI has the potential to help contractors better plan their projects, build on schedule, reduce risks and improve safety on site. Contractors should start preparing for this new world by exploring opportunities to improve productivity through AI, and upskill and reskill their workforce to adapt to a new way of working.