Kemiex: The Venture Leader Fintech simplifiying raw material trading with digital solutions

22.11.2024 15:33, Rita Longobardi

Meet Oriol Saludes, Co-Founder of Kemiex. The Fintech startup provides a secure platform for real-time pricing and efficient raw material transactions. In December, Oriol and the other nine Swiss National Fintech Team members will fly to London on a business development and investor roadshow.

Name: Oriol Saludes
Location: Zurich
Nationality: Spain
Graduated from: ESADE
Job title: Co-founder and COO
Number of employees: 38
First touchpoint with Venturelab: 2019

After completing his Bachelor's in Business Administration at ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Oriol Saludes moved to Switzerland to work in banking for UBS and Deutsche Bank, in business development and strategy roles for investment banking and wealth management. There, the 2 founders decided to leverage the knowledge acquired in banking to transform the way raw materials are traded and how the information to make investment decisions is obtained. The data published by Kemiex is used by industry participants and by financial institutions with interests in the raw materials space to improve decision-making processes. Apart from having clients in more than 95 countries, Kemiex counts on leading investors such as CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) and others.

Can you tell us who your product or solution helps, and how?
Kemiex is a market information and trading platform for life science raw materials (nutrition and health for humans and animals). It offers targeted news, weekly ingredient prices, import/export data, and a supplier directory to support decision-making. Companies like Cargill, Nestlé, and BASF use Kemiex to monitor their industry and act quickly, akin to financial markets. Financial institutions also leverage Kemiex to track market dynamics, explore investment opportunities, or evaluate divestment strategies.

What market are you addressing and what is the potential of your startup in that market?
The focus is on raw materials for animal and human nutrition, veterinary and human medicines, and related businesses such as manufacturers, traders, distributors, brokers, and producers using these inputs. It also includes indirect stakeholders like financial institutions, private equity firms, insurers, and regulators. The goal is to solidify the platform as the leading resource for this sector, akin to Bloomberg's role in the financial industry.

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
The two founders used to work in the financial industry. While on the FX floor of UBS in Opfikon, we realized that FX and the rest of the asset classes had plenty of data available to make investment decisions, and were highly digitalized, globally connected and efficient. At the same time, other global industries, with well-documented products such as raw materials in nutrition and pharma, were not as digitalized or efficient, making business harder, more opaque, and error-prone, as the lack of data made it very difficult to know what to do. Our vision is to bring the efficiency and digitalization that transform financial markets to the sectors of raw materials for humans and animals.
 
What do you expect from the Venture Leaders Fintech roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision?
I expect to be able to show our solution to any company in the financial industry that is interested in having data about a critical industry globally that will allow them to make better investment decisions and broaden their visibility on key raw materials such as vitamins, which are used in every ingredient that humans and animals consume.

What are your team’s key achievements to date?
Becoming the leading solution for the above-mentioned industries, to the point that leading market participants link their quarterly agreements to the prices we provide. The company remains practically cash-flow neutral despite having doubled the size of the team during 2024. The plan is to double the revenues vs 2023 and to continue doing the same in 2025 and beyond. Today, Kemiex counts with clients in 95 countries and has facilitated negotiations worth nearly USD 5bn since its inception.

What is the most challenging and rewarding aspect of being a founder?
Being a founder is challenging due to the heavy responsibility for the company's success and culture. Early setbacks can feel overwhelming, and the journey can be lonely. However, the reward of seeing your work make an impact and watching your team grow makes it all worthwhile.

What is the most important lesson you have learned as a founder?
Being a founder means bearing the weight of the company’s direction, culture, and progress. Early decisions and changes can shape the team and the organization's future, often making the journey isolating, especially with limited resources and setbacks. However, the satisfaction of building something impactful is unmatched. Watching your team and product evolve, and hearing how your solution transforms clients’ perspectives or operations, makes the effort worthwhile—even if those moments take time to arrive.

What is your favourite productivity hack/tool and why?
As unhealthy as it sounds, I work best in the evenings after the office empties when distractions are gone. As COO, I focus on unblocking problems to enable the team to excel, often sacrificing my peace. This quiet time allows me to catch up on what wasn’t possible during the day. To balance this, I fit in sports during the week and maintain some social activity. Staying focused on the initial goal helps me keep pushing forward.

What was your dream job when you were a child?
Funnily enough, when I was a child I had no clue I would be in the position I am today. I wanted to be a doctor or a veterinarian. Soon enough, I realized this was a nice thought but not a real vocation that I wanted to follow for the rest of my life.