Meet Kemiex COO Oriol Saludes and find out how he travels to Spain by opening the fridge

14.10.2020 14:15, Isabelle Mitchell

Venture Leader China Oriol Saludes co-founded Kemiex, a specialized trade and information platform for buyers, traders, and sellers of pharmaceutical ingredients, additives, vitamins, and excipients in the human and animal health and nutrition industries. Learn more about Oriol’s expectations for the Venture Leader China experience, why having a first and a second family is critical, and which fridge staple reminds him of home.

The Venture Leaders China 2020 will accelerate their expansion into the Chinese market and build a business network through meetings with top-notch investors and industry leaders. To introduce you to the members of the Swiss National Startup Team, we asked each entrepreneur to complete a short profile and choose four questions from a questionnaire about their personal and professional life.

 

Name: Oriol Saludes
Job title: COO of Kemiex 
Location: Zurich   
Nationality: Spanish
Graduated from: ESADE Business School 
Number of employees: 15
First touchpoint with Venturelab: At the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award 2019

“Kemiex develops a trading and information platform to better buy and sell raw materials for the feed, food, vet, and pharma industries.”

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup? 
Back in 2014, when Pau Franquet and I were working on the FX trading floor at UBS, we realized that an industry like the trading of raw materials in life sciences was connecting many players on a global scale but in a much less efficient and scalable way. The vision to transform a whole industry was the main motivation to create Kemiex.

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders program, and how will it help you achieve your vision?
Thanks to the Venture Leaders program, I expect to meet people who can guide me to face challenges that other companies have overcome in the past and to be connected with partners, investors, and mentors that embrace this project and share our vision to change how things are done.

What is the most rewarding aspect of being a founder? 
Without a doubt, and I am sure that any founder will share this view, the most rewarding element of being a founder is the team. Finding a group of talented people who share the vision and invest their energy and effort in the project can be very challenging, but it is what brings the best feeling as a manager. By experiencing so many moments together—unexpected challenges, long hours, but also good news and milestones achieved as a team—these people become more than friends. They become your second family.

What is the most important lesson you have learned as a founder?
The most important lessons I have learned since I started Kemiex, and the skills I have improved the most is that you have to be resilient and flexible. Regardless of the hard days and the unexpected drawbacks, you still need to get up every morning, give your 100%, and motivate the team to do the same. You also need to adapt to new situations and challenges that are usually impossible to predict. With hard work and consistency, good results always arise. It is just a matter of time.

What is always in your fridge?
Jamón Ibérico! It takes me back home for a short moment.

What are you most proud of?  
My family. Thanks to them, I am the person that I am. Everything I have achieved as of today is—directly or indirectly—thanks to their support and guidance. They taught me the values that drive my decisions and the origins that define me. Although I live in Switzerland now, I try going back regularly to spend time with them.

For more information and updates on Kemiex and the Venture Leaders China, follow the Venture Leaders China 2020 team with #VleadersChina on social media or subscribe to our newsletter. 
 
This year’s Venture Leaders China is organized in collaboration with swissnex China and supported by EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich, Gebert Rüf Stiftung, VISCHER, Canton Vaud, and the Canton of Zurich.