Digitalising and decarbonising construction logistics: Pi Labs’ investment in Alrik
April 11, 2024 | Dhruv Gupta
We are pleased to announce our investment in Alrik, a Stockholm-based software start-up disrupting logistics in the construction industry. Pi Labs led the €1 million Seed round, joining our friends at Global Founders Capital, Sequoia Scout and other investors.
Background to the investment
At Pi Labs, we back founders creating a digital and sustainable built world. Transport of materials is the backbone of new building construction, retrofit and recycling — but our research identified two critical issues in construction logistics:
Environmental Impact: Materials transport accounts for 10–13% of GHG emissions in the construction industry i.e. 4% of global GHG emissions, second only to the cement industry (8%).
Operational Inefficiencies: Construction labour experiences a staggering 23% time downtime on sites due to prolonged waiting for goods, caused by a lack of real-time visibility in the transport of materials.
In June 2023, we met the founders of Alrik — Nici & Axel, both successful FinTech operators, who approached construction logistics with a fresh lens as industry outsiders. Since then, we have witnessed Alrik deliver remarkable results, achieving up to 30% reductions in transport emissions and costs for building material suppliers and construction firms.
About Alrik
Alrik’s Founders, Nici and Axel
Alrik is a logistics platform used by building material distributors, developers and transport companies to reduce emissions and save construction logistics costs. Clients such as Saint Gobain leverage Fleet Planner ‘SaaS’ to manage their delivery vehicles and Fleet on Demand ‘Marketplace’ as additional capacity to their delivery fleet, both in one unified platform.
A snapshot of Alrik’s all-in-one solution
Why we invested
Founding Team: Nici (CEO) and Axel (CPO), together with Jan (CTO), form a complimentary team to build a large business backed by technology and data science. Nici’s leadership steered Lendify to a €140m exit, while Jan’s technical expertise was intrumental in Lendify’s success, and Axel brings a strong product background from scaling Facturino.
Customer value proposition: Alrik’s software services over 100 building material distributors in Sweden, handling over 10,000 shipments monthly. Over the last 6 months, Alrik has reduced the cost per delivery 26% and slashed emissions by 33% per order.
Cost per delivery reduced by 26% in 6 months
Market opportunity: Construction is a $12 trillion industry with approximately 7% spent on transport of materials i.e. $840 billion — Alrik has the potential to capture $15 billion in annual revenue. While technology in e-commerce and last-mile delivery has evolved rapidly, logistics within construction remains antiquated, presenting a vast opportunity for Alrik to establish a unified platform.
What’s next?
The recent funding round positions Alrik for further expansion across Sweden and into European markets. If you are a building material distributor or real estate developer looking to reduce emissions, save costs and improve transparency in your logistics — connect with Alrik via their website or reach out directly to the founders Nici (n@alrik.com) or Axel (a@alrik.com).
We firmly believe that Alrik is poised to become a key player in revolutionising logistics within the global construction industry. We are thrilled to embark on this journey with Alrik, supporting their mission to drive positive change and innovation within construction logistics.
