GrabOnRent seeks $10 mn for expanding to China, Middle East

Product rental marketplace GrabOnRent has drawn up plans to foray into overseas markets such as China and the Middle East, two people familiar with the matter told TechCircle. 

The company is also in advanced talks to raise up to $10 million led by new investors from those markets, the above-mentioned persons said on the condition of anonymity.

“The opportunity in overseas markets such as China and the Middle East is very big for startups like GrabOnRent,” said one of the people cited above. 

The upcoming funding round, the person added, is close to being finalised and will most likely see existing investors making a contribution as well.

The online platform, run by Bengaluru-based GrabOnRent Internet Pvt. Ltd, had raised pre-Series A funding led by IvyCap Ventures and Unicorn India Ventures in 2016.

In March last year, GrabOnRent co-founder Shubham Jain told VCCircle that the startup was aiming to raise $5 million (Rs 32.5 crore) in Series A funding and would close the round in a couple of months.

Email queries sent to GrabOnRent about its latest fundraising and expansion plans did not elicit a response till the time of publishing this report.

Launched in September 2015, GrabOnRent connects consumers with rental suppliers across categories such as furniture, appliances, cameras and so on. 

With a subscription-based service offering, GrabOnRent also offers delivery, installation and maintenance for its products. It has so far offered its services to more than 30,000 households by renting more than 80,000 products across categories.

The founding team consists of Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati graduates Manish S Sugandhi, Shubham Jain and Aditya Sharma.

The three-year-old startup has expanded its operations to Hyderabad, Mumbai and Gurugram, and plans to set foot in other Indian cities as well, according to media reports.

Rentomojo, another product rental marketplace, had last year raised $10 million (Rs 64.3 crore) in a Series B round of funding led by Bain Capital Ventures and Renaud Laplanche, a French-American entrepreneur.

Furniture rental in particular has been one of the key vertical e-commerce businesses that has attracted investor interest in recent years.

In March, Mumbai-headquartered furniture e-tailer Pepperfry, which also offers rentals, raised Rs 250 crore ($38.4 million) in a fresh round of funding from asset management company State Street Global Advisors.

In December last year, furniture rental startup Furlenco, which is run by Bengaluru-based Kieraya Furnishing Solutions Pvt. Ltd, raised Rs 7.7 crore (around $1.2 million) in debt funding from Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and other investors.

That same month, Rentickle.com, an online platform that allows users to rent lifestyle products including home appliances, furniture and cameras on a monthly subscription model, raised around $4 million (Rs 25 crore) in a fresh round of funding.