With KC expansion set, EquipmentShare raises $28.4M
January 24, 2017 | Bobby Burch
A firm that’s planning to open a Kansas City tech office snagged millions in equity financing for its platform touted as the “Airbnb for construction equipment.”
Based in Columbia, Mo., EquipmentShare raised about $28.4 in a Series B round that will accelerate its expansion to major metros around the nation, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
EquipmentShare created a platform that’s disrupting the way contractors and construction crews rent equipment. Instead of turning to more expensive equipment rental companies, the firm’s peer-to-peer marketplace to rent construction equipment connects contractors to other contractors to find and rent unused equipment that otherwise would be collecting dust. In addition to the marketplace, the firm created a device — the ES Tracker — that provides real-time data on the location and use of machines that have been rented.
Founded in 2014, EquipmentShare has garnered serious traction in its three years. The company already has 95 employees, raised more than $30 million and participated in the Y Combinator accelerator program.
The marketplace is in operation in Columbia, St. Louis, Dallas, Jacksonville and Auckland, New Zealand, but plans to expand quickly in the coming year. In the next 18 months, the firm plans to expand its offerings into most major metros in the United States, including Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City and others.
As it expands around the nation, EquipmentShare co-founder Willy Schlacks said he’s hoping to hire about 20 Kansas City software and web developers for the firm.
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Minddrive fuels youth development through hands-on STEM
Carlos Alonzo, a 15-year-old engineer at Minddrive, was always good at math. In the seventh grade, Alonzo’s teachers gave him the opportunity to skip ahead and take algebra. Although he enjoyed it and did well in the class, he ran into a problem: His school didn’t offer him an advanced class for eighth grade. That one-year…
Entrepreneur, startup advocate becomes new KC Chamber chair
A prominent Kansas City entrepreneur with some serious startup chops is now serving as the new chair of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. Matt Condon, CEO of Bardavon Health Innovations and ARC Physical Therapy, was unanimously voted to serve at the helm of the chamber’s board of directors as its chairman. Condon, 42,…
Video: Healthy workplace culture begins with intention, communication
Editor’s note: This content was sponsored by Mid-Continent Public Library but independently produced by Startland News. Creating a healthy workplace culture must be done early and with intention, said Adrienne Haynes and Dwayne Lewis. To help startups develop a strategic human resource plan, Haynes, managing partner of SEED Law, and Dwayne Lewis, president of Lewis…
From Google to KC, Beth Ellyn McClendon’s advice to startups: Test everything
Don’t fall in love with an idea, Beth Ellyn McClendon said. “Test everything, especially your assumptions, and allow yourself to be persuaded by data,” said McClendon, a seed investor who formerly worked with Google, Android, YouTube, Cisco and Netscape. “Try to remember — tattoo it on your eyelids if you have to – anecdotes are not…