Atlanta-based Quipli raises $3.5 Million to reshape the $60 Billion equipment rental space
Kyle Clements was working on a “weekend warrior” project when he ran into some particularly frustrating experiences renting gear from the larger equipment rental companies.
“After that, I was curious -- if this is what the large, national players are doing, what are the small players doing? It turns out, it wasn't much better at the time,” he told Hypepotamus.
Clements interviewed 100 rental companies over the course of fall 2020 and found that smaller shops struggled to get rental options online and find efficient ways to join the e-commerce space. So he got to work reimagining what the online rental world might look like.
That’s when Quipli was born. The Atlanta-based startup, aptly named after the startup’s core customers of eQUIPment rental companies, bills itself as a is an online storefront for rental businesses. It looks to streamline the rental process, from scheduling to payments to inventory management.
Clements described Quipli’s target customers as independent or mom and pop equipment rental companies in the US or Canada. That number is estimated to be 15,000. “Typically, the smaller players have been underserved by software offerings…and don't have large amounts of capital to invest in building software,” he added.
To scale and take on the $60 billion equipment rental industry, Quipli recently raised a $3.5 million seed investment from Boundless Venture Co, an early-stage venture studio out of Oakland, California.
"We have worked with Kyle Clements [Quipli founder and CEO] since Quipli was just an idea, and we couldn't be more excited to announce our continued support and partnership with him and the team," said Dan Saper, CEO of Boundless, in a statement. "We found that customers in this market have been frustrated with legacy options and are ready for the next generation of software. The pain points are real and the opportunity is massive."
Building Quipli in Atlanta
Clements is no stranger to the transportation and logistics scene. He previously led partnership growth at Clutch Technologies, an Atlanta-based vehicle subscription platform that was acquired by Cox Automotive a few years back.
Clutch alumni have been a source of talent for Quipl since the startup got off the ground with its first customer in Summer 2021. 7 out of the 20 “Quiplians” previously worked at Clutch. That includes Court Kasten, who has joined as the startup’s COO.
“It's fun getting the band back together!” Clements added.
