CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BluePallet, a digital marketplace built with the support of The National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) and backed by major industry players, today announced it has exited stealth mode.
The online market network was built by the same founders who built the e-commerce platform used by LiveNation and the NFL for ticket reselling. Set to transform the chemical industry, BluePallet is an exclusive strategic partner of the NACD through 2024, the industry’s leading trade organization.
“BluePallet (formerly known as EchoSystem) has been an invaluable strategic partner to NACD,” said Eric R. Byer, NACD’s President and CEO. “BluePallet understands that in order to advance the chemical distribution industry, we must look toward a digital future. As we celebrate NACD’s 50th Anniversary of serving chemical distributors and the supply chain, we are proud to continue partnering with an organization that creates e-commerce solutions which are custom-built for the future of our industry.”
The United States is one of the world’s largest producers of chemical products, representing nearly $1 trillion in chemical shipments annually. But the industry has lagged others in digital commerce, instead relying on more traditional methods such as sales teams.
BluePallet’s market network is modernizing global chemical sales, streamlining transactions, reducing risk, and helping members find new suppliers/customers. Thirty-seven distributors from the NACD are currently participating in the platform’s beta program.
“Covid showed us firsthand what happens when the supply chain breaks. Shifting from traditional supply chains to an online network of suppliers is the first step to ensuring that the chemical industry can get raw materials in the right hands,” said BluePallet CEO and co-founder Scott Barrows.
Modernization and globalization have also exposed the chemical industry to increased risks. The Global Economic Crime Survey by PwC found that more than a third (37%) of chemical companies have suffered from economic crime — at nearly $600,000 per company.
BluePallet’s dynamic business verification tool, TradePass, employs best-in-class technologies to onboard new partners, rooting out “bad actors” through automatic and ongoing financial and operational risk analysis on every member of their network, reducing new account fraud and the need for manual review. The embedded FinTech engine also facilitates large, complex B2B transactions.
Early investors contributing to the $4 million seed round include chemical industry veterans and active executives Terry Hill, Barenz CEO of North America; Mathew Brainerd, CEO of Brainerd Chemical Co.; and Bruce Schechinger, former Chairman of NACD.
“BluePallet will not only make the chemical industry safer and more effective, but by streamlining the way B2B companies connect, will prove to have significant cost and efficiency benefits,” said Schechinger.
About BluePallet
BluePallet is the world’s first market network that gives verified industrial buyers and sellers control over their supply chain. Built with the support and advice of the NACD [National Association of Chemical Distributors] and its 400-plus member and affiliate companies, BluePallet was formed through a merger between Velloci, a consumer-oriented FinTech platform adapted to the B2B FinTech ecosystem, and EchoSystem, a chemical marketplace founded in 2017 and based on the platform founded by Scott Barrows and now employed by Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and the NFL.
