Benjamin Martindale is Co-Founder and CEO of Donkey (YC S26), an AI-native trading company that connects US importers directly to Chinese factories, delivering goods factory-direct with all tariffs and logistics included.

Benjamin grew up in his family's industrial supply business and went on to help Chinese industrial giants like Sany and Zoomlion break into Western markets, giving him deep roots in global trade and supply chains.

His firsthand experience on both sides of the import equation revealed a structural gap: small and mid-sized US businesses were paying distributor markups for goods that large enterprises sourced directly by the container.

Benjamin co-founded Donkey alongside James Tan (his high school best friend) and Joe Zhuang, and secured a coveted spot in Y Combinator's highly competitive Summer 2026 batch, which accepts less than 1% of applicants.

In its first week of active selling, Donkey quoted $110,000 worth of product and helped a restaurant supply house come in 15% below their current supplier, out of the same factory, with first purchase orders already signing.