Ryder, the iconic American transportation and logistics company known for its commercial rental trucks, has recently launched a new service… which maybe speaks to their ability to move with the times to stay relevant. This service will harness the company’s large collection of trailers through a peer-to-peer, drop-and-hook trailer sharing platform. Through this sharing platform, customers can access Ryder’s entire fleet of dry, refrigerated trailers.
The company has lauded the decision as a new way to solve the needs of customers, and we couldn’t agree more. We applaud the willingness to try new things, to be the old dog that could be taught new tricks… because peer-to-peer rentals are on the come-up and will only continue to grow in popularity. Additionally, we’re noticing people move away from renting exclusively from businesses (and their sometimes-overbearing policies) and migrate to renting from one another.
Stay On The Road
Furthermore, from trends we’re seeing, people are, in general, deciding to do, go, see, experience… they aren’t wanting to sit still, and they aren’t wanting to commit. While this may sound a bit alarming, we’d disagree. This opens many doors of opportunity… and if there is one space where this is evident, it’s in the peer-to-peer vacation rentals space. It has been booming. People have realized life is short, they don’t want to own the RV, but they do want to take it out for a good time.
RVshare, the world’s largest peer-to-peer RV rental marketplace, has released its 2023 Travel Trend Report, and we’re seeing a glimpse of an America up for a good time… not just on vacation, but at music festivals and attending special events all over the country. According to the report, in the last twelve months, we collectively hit campsites from the Grand Canyon National Park and the Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness, to Burning man in Nevada and Watchman Mountain at Zion National Park.
More and more, this travel is being facilitated through peer-to-peer rental platforms, especially when the traditional rental spaces fail them through overly restrictive rental rules or difficult to navigate and understand terms and conditions. As we mentioned, people are increasingly unwilling to deal with traditional rental companies. They can now rent an RV (and increasingly, most other things) that they don’t have to otherwise pay to own, from a regular person they can have a normal conversation with.
We’d speculate that part of the growing charm of peer-to-peer rentals is the actual, authentic human interaction. That being said, peer-to-peer rentals aren’t only becoming popular when it comes to renting an RV for vacation, it’s solving real problems. It’s not just for a good time, but for businesses to be able to put underutilized assets to work making money. And it’s helping to transform our access to things that we previously only had if we could exercise ownership.
Increasingly, ownership is becoming on an as-needed basis. Which, if we think about it, makes a lot of sense. We have same-day delivery, and sometimes even delivery within the hour. In a world where most things are at our fingertips, why shouldn’t that apply to everything. We don’t think we should need to own something outright to take advantage of it, and we think that needs to extend to all things, across the board. Now… let’s move onto our companies for this week. We’ll be having a look at peer-to-peer companies RVnGO and Startup Quiptu.
Deals To Watch
RVnGO is a peer-to-peer RV rental marketplace based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company, which was founded in 2015 lets customers rent, sell, or buy recreational vehicles with no transaction fees. The company has taken note of the large number of recreational vehicles that go unused 95% of the time, some nine million or more of them, and decided to utilize that information to build a business serving RV enthusiast and liberating lonely travel vehicles.
RVnGO, which came out of beta in 2016 has had some impressive success, reporting 50 times growth overall, and two times growth month-on-month throughout 2020 and 2021. The company is preparing for an IPO and has filed for approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Once all the legalities are hammered out, the company plans to sell shares of its Class A common stock. Both date and price range have yet to be announced.
Quiptu is the real new kid on the block. Based in Indiana, this startup is the brainchild of two gear enthusiasts and shop owners with impressive professional and educational backgrounds. Together, the founders dreamed up the idea of offering a peer-to-peer rental platform for outdoor gear. It makes sense… we rent out our cars, spare bedrooms, and almost anything else these days, and Quiptu is applying that to things like paddleboards and kayaks.
Much like Ryder wanted to put underutilized trailers to work, Quiptu saw that our recreational toys have the same problem, they want to eliminate that while making themselves and their customers a little money. Potential renters go on the platform and check out profiles, choose their gear, the two parties agree on terms, then it’s done. Often, the owner is personally dropping the gear off to the renter. To date, they’ve raised $300,000 in venture funding through an angel round and pitch competitions. We’d like to remind you, the mighty oak started as a seedling, and we think the company has potential.
Increasingly, peer-to-peer, here for a good time, not a long time, is where customers want to be. More and more, people are craving authentic human interaction, and for ease in their attempts to secure what they need to create the life they want. It’s genius. Want to take the kids wakeboarding for a few hours, no need to dish out hundreds or thousands of dollars. Just hop on a peer-to-peer rental app, pick some gear, take the trip. Then, give the stuff back, and never think about it again. Come back next week, we’ll have more for you from the world of IPOs, see you then!