Cercula

the ask

When meeting Cercula's founder, we were convinced that she was solving a big problem in the construction industry, which is a significant emitter of carbon. In mid-2022, Cercula was left with no technical cofounder and an MVP product that didn't perform well enough. We faced challenges to improve the matching algorithm (a core product feature), fix urgent issues, help the founder secure client pilots and develop a comprehensive product and funding strategy. Additionally, there were no methodologies and processes in place.

Early on, we decided to take a "step-by-step" approach to focus solely on high-value, low-effort tasks and to ensure we would strengthen the startup foundation that the founder had already successfully managed to set. We had to work around the clock to turn things around pretty quickly to guarantee revenues from Cercula first clients and to raise funding.

Outcomes

Providing strategic advice- product & investment- to the founder

Supplying an elastic product squad of three individual

Working on creating APIs, matching datasets and report visuals

Re-designing the app (new components and journeys)

Helping raise the seed round (£1.2 million)

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Match

“Better data mapping to track the emboddied carbon of all materials”

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technical requirements

We had to work hand-in-hand with the founder and analyse thoroughly how her previous CTO had developed the matching tool and database connections. We had to do a lot of reverse engineering work, which went well!

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Scale

“Allow Cercula to aggregate millions of data points for and have an impact in making better choices with construction materials and processes”

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team principles

We are following the lean startup approach to focus on a few features and iterate according to client feedback. Our team velocity has increased as we continuously add people with the right skills, attitude and expertise in climate tech, data and construction.

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the process

YJCollective supplies the squad for 12 months, which each month is defined with its statement of work. This is how we define the cap hours and team requirements. The product squad uses a Scrum methodology to build, test and iterate as fast as possible. Our CEO Yoann also dedicated his time as a Senior C-level consultant to coach the team, hire new contractors (via YJC) and permanent software engineer and well as he advises on the product roadmaps and set company goals (KPIs and OKRs).