Donkey

Donkey

The AI-native trading company: China factory-direct for US importers

San Francisco
7 employees
Logistics
Seed

About Donkey

Donkey is the modern trading company. We buy straight from Chinese factories and sell delivered to US importers: one USD price to their dock, duty paid, our own inspectors on the factory floor before the factory gets paid.

Most importers buy through trading companies that mark up every container 15 to 30 percent and never reveal the factory. US customs records are public. Almost nobody reads them, so we arrive already knowing their supply lane. They send one photo of a part they reorder. We name the factory that actually makes it and beat their landed cost in 72 hours, or they keep their supplier.

We take title, run the inspection, move the money, and offer credit-insured net-45 terms to qualified buyers. The old trading giants ran this coordination with tens of thousands of people. Our machine runs it with a handful, and every settled order compounds the pricing and reliability data the next one runs on.

Team in SF and China, English and Mandarin. Know a US importer buying from China? Send them our way: one photo of a part, and we will name their factory. donkey.trade

Company details

Team Size7
LocationSan Francisco
IndustryLogistics

Funding

Last stage

Seed

Investors

Y Combinator

Founders

MT

Minghao Tan

Co-founder & CTO. Donkey buys factory-direct in China and sells delivered to US importers. Customs records are public. We read them, flag the trading company markup, and quote the same parts straight from the factory that makes them. QC on the floor before the factory gets paid. I build the data side: parsing raw customs filings, separating real factories from shells and forwarders, and the software the whole trade runs on. donkey.trade

Benjamin Martindale

Benjamin Martindale

Previously founded Prelude OS, acquiring 31 paying Chinese factory customers in 39 days in Guangzhou. Advised heavy-equipment giants Sany and Sinoboom on overseas expansion. Fluent Mandarin. Finance background at Rotman Commerce, University of Toronto.

LinkedIn

What happens next.

No applications, no recruiter spam. Just the intro.

01

Confirm the fit

A few questions to make sure this role is the right shape for you. Two minutes.

02

I pitch you to the company

I write the intro, send it to the founder, and handle the back-and-forth.

03

A meeting lands on your calendar

If they’re a yes, I book the chat. You show up — that’s the whole job-hunt.