The heavy machinery rental industry is about to go fully digital, as a Munich-based construction tech startup, Klarx, has reinforced itself with 12.5 million Euros. Klarx was able to raise such an impressive amount thanks to the support of B&C Innovation Investments (BCII) and its die-hard investor, Target Global.
Judging from its recent press release, one can tell that the klarx team is not joking about its acclaimed goal, which is to further develop its products and expand klarx’s influence into emerging European bazaars.
Europe is not new to the idea of digitized machinery rental. In fact, a report published by N Sonnischsen in 2017 shows that Cramo and Ramirent, two of the three biggest machinery providers, were able to generate 730 million and 724 million in revenue respectively.
If the European machinery rental marketplace is already digitized, what makes klarx different?
The klarx Revolution
To understand the reason investors are willing to risk 12.5 Million Euros, we must educate ourselves on the brief history and track record of klarx.
The klarx startup was founded by three entrepreneurs, two of whom are brothers. The two brothers, Matthias and Florian Handschuh, alongside Vincent Koch saw the need for a digitized rental platform that makes the procurement of construction tools easy and available as car rental. Yes, you heard that right — easy and available as car rental.
For companies, who are tired of the stress that comes with machinery rental, this investment deal is good news. In addition, klarx plans to extend its operations to emerging European markets, making equipment rentals available to places that have been neglected by bigger rental companies.
Most investors are inspired by the vision of the co-founders. Moreover, investing in a company has been making waves since 2015 is a sure bet.
What’s next for klarx?
As noted earlier, the way-forward for klarx is the expansion of their operations and the development of their products. Inevitably, this includes more employment for European citizens and more funds (taxes) for the European economy.