# Donkey

[Donkey on Hacklab](https://hacklab.so/org/donkey)

Startup · 2 people on Hacklab

## Links

- [Website](https://donkey.trade/)
- [Y Combinator](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/donkey)
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/thedonkeytrade/?viewAsMember=true)

## About

<!-- hacklab:yc-profile -->

## YC company profile

The AI-native trading company: factory prices, delivered, one number

Donkey is the AI-native trading company. Upload a buying list and we land the whole container at one locked, delivered price, tariffs included. You buy from Donkey: one contract, one company responsible for everything between the factory floor and your door. Our own people check the cartons before the factory gets paid, and the balance is due when the goods are accepted at your dock.

Small businesses buy imports through three or four middlemen, each adding 15 to 30 points, because none of them can fill a container on their own. Big enough to buy pallets, never big enough to buy the box. Quotes float with freight, FX and tariffs and live 15 to 30 days.

A trading company is rooms of people on the phone with factories, forwarders and brokers. Donkey runs that as one engine. It finds the real factory behind the customs record, stacks duty line by line, packs the container on weight and cube, and returns one number that holds from signature. Next comes the shared container: small buyers fill one box together at container prices, and every container earns better factory terms for the next one.

Team in San Francisco and Wuhan, English and Mandarin. If your business buys pallets of anything imported, send us your buying list.

- **YC batch:** Summer 2026
- **Founded:** 2025
- **Team size:** 5
- **Location:** San Francisco
- **Country:** US
- **Status:** Active
- **Industry:** B2B
- **Stage:** Early
- **Tags:** Logistics, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, AI
- **YC partner:** Harshita Arora

## Founders

### Benjamin Martindale — Founder/CEO

Grew up in his family's importing business in Toronto. Advised Chinese heavy-machinery giants on selling into the West and ran a Wuhan office in Mandarin. Featured on Mango TV, one of China's largest broadcasters: factory-floor segments and a named 13-minute profile. Founded a Toronto marketing company: $4M of construction deals closed in six months. Finance at Rotman, UofT, one credit short.

[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-martindale/)

### Minghao Tan — Founder/CTO

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

[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-tan-5a4b07224/)

[Source: Y Combinator](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/donkey) · Retrieved 2026-11-02. Company information is self-reported on YC.

## Current staff

- [Benjamin Martindale](https://hacklab.so/benjamin-martindale) — Founder/CEO (Present)
- [Minghao Tan](https://hacklab.so/minghao-tan) — Founder/CTO (Present)