Our Entrepreneurs

Company Snapshot

Britec is breaking new ground and turning rubble into riches. Gravel—the primary ingredient for concrete and asphalt—serves as the lifeblood of many construction projects. Despite being a cheap and common construction input, gravel can become a financial and logistical burden, especially if it needs to be transported over great distances. Founded in 2010 by Luís Noronha and Marco Ferraz, Britec is revolutionizing the gravel supply chain by offering a closed loop, on-site gravel solution that saves time and reduces costs. Britec uses mobile crushing units to turn construction debris into gravel and then sells that gravel back to the construction company.

Marco and Luís, whose wives are cousins, share many passions: water sports, entrepreneurship, and the construction industry. Starting their entrepreneurial careers as teenagers, they independently funded their craze for water sports. Marco bought and sold surfboard keychains while Luís sold wingsurfing rigs to purchase their own surfboards. After graduating in 1997 from Universidade Politécnica in Pernambuco with a degree in civil engineering, Marco took over his father’s company, Construtora SAM, and transformed it into a successful company with a strong reputation in Pernambuco. Luís studied law at Mackenzie University before receiving another degree in marketing. He then joined João Santos Group, Brazil’s second largest cement producer, and was eventually named Superintendent. In their respective careers, the two friends found common grievance in the trouble of securing cheap and timely gravel. Seeing opportunity to transform the gravel industry, Marco and Luís joined forces in 2010 to found Britec.

The idea for Britec first crystalized in 2006 when Marco bought a small semi-mobile gravel crusher for his construction company to use on a project that was far from the nearest gravel quarry. The machine that Marco purchased could produce only ~3,000 m3 of gravel per month, not enough to scale the solution. But technological advances by 2010 made possible the integration of a unified mobile crushing plant capable of ten times more capacity. Comprised of a bulldozer, a primary crusher, a secondary crusher, and a screening machine, a mobile crushing unit produces up to ~30,000 m3 of gravel a month. Recognizing the significant time and money that could be saved by moving gravel production on-site, Marco and Luís decided to develop Britec around the promise of mobile crushing. Investing personal savings, Marco and Luís purchased four mobile crusher plants in 2011, and three more a year later. Since then, Britec has been able to secure major customers.

Marco and Luis are the first entrepreneur candidates from Endeavor Brazil’s Recife office, and are significantly helping the environment by eliminating the need to transport gravel and by recycling debris that would otherwise be sent to landfills.