Rental marketplace RentSher raises $1.1 M from Shorooq Investments, other investors

RentSher, an online product rental marketplace, has said it has raised $1.1 million in its latest funding round, led by Abu Dhabi-based venture capital fund Shorooq Investments and Dubai-based Latitude Consultants.

RentSher’s funding round also saw participation from angel investors of the LetsVenture platform, a senior partner from McKinsey & Company’s Middle East office, apart from more angel investors from the UK, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The company plans to allocate the funds towards developing a global tech platform that supports customers as well as business partners to further RentSher’s mission, Renting Made Easy. In addition to this, RentSher plans to use the capital infusion for geographical expansion in five to eight additional cities in India, and in the Middle East in 2018, along with strengthening its team to scale up the brand’s value proposition for the benefit of the end customers.

Started in October 2015, RentSher focuses on electronics, A/V equipment and medical equipment rentals through its online platform, and offers concierge-like rental service for events.

Harsh Dhand, the CEO says, "Offline renting is a painful process with customers often struggling to zero in on the right products, gain price transparency, as well as reliability. We are on a mission to transform this multi-billion-dollar market with our easy-to-navigate platform, that enables customers to search from thousands of products online, browse all the details and book instantly, without wasting their time organising rentals for their next party. All our business partners receive order bookings without spending time and money towards business development.”

“With the latest round of funding, we are poised to further fulfil our mission of setting up the strongest technological foundation to cater to the company’s rapidly-increasing user base and make renting easy for all across new and existing markets,” he added.

Mahmoud Adi and Shane Shin, Co-founding Partners at Shorooq Investments said, “We are excited to lead the investment in RentSher and be a part of the company’s stellar growth journey. We believe RentSher’s business model automates and brings significant efficiency and transparency in the traditional, opaque rental supplier-customer dynamics. Needless to say, the rental market is a massive one that offers tremendous opportunity in India as well as in global markets. After three years of experience in providing rental equipment for a wide variety of needs in India, RentSher is best positioned for immediate expansion to other geographies along with the help of its strong tech team. The consistent month-over-month growth since RentSher’s launch demonstrates the potential of the rental concept as well as the company’s efficiency and dynamism.”

RentSher claims to have serviced over 60,000 customers, and delivered more than 1,00,000 products in the past three years across India and the UAE.

There are also a few other players in the furniture and products rental categories, which have gathered investor interests as well, including Furlenco, RentoMojo, and GrabOnRent.