Plenti raises €5 million to build a managed marketplace for electronic devices rental
Plenti offers electronic devices in a circular economy model, enabling access to the latest devices on demand, without forcing users to own them. The company offers a subscription model, from 1 up to 12 months, allowing users to only pay for the usage of their gear. Plenti has raised €5 million in a late Seed round led by 4growth VC, with the participation of Montis Capital and NIF, and other investors. The funding will help the company develop the supply-side partnership program that enables Plenti to grow faster while remaining asset-light. Plenti also plans to strengthen its position in Poland, and prepare the company for European expansion next year.
Plenti – the Polish startup that offers electronic devices in a circular economy model – has raised €5 million in a late Seed round led by 4growth VC, with the participation of Montis Capital and NIF, as well as new and existing business angels. The funding will help the company strengthen its position in Poland, develop the supply-side partnership program, and prepare the company for European expansion next year.
Founded in 2018 by Wojciech Rokosz, Karol Klimas, and Wojciech Wójtowicz, Plenti offers access to the latest devices on demand, and allows users to use them without forcing ownership. The offer includes game consoles, phones, smartwatches, laptops, VR headsets, air purifiers, autonomous vacuum cleaners, coffee machines, Starlink terminals, and even pizza ovens.
Plenti offers the devices in a subscription, from 1 up to 12 months, allowing users to only pay for the usage of their gear. This flexibility allows consumers to test expensive devices before the purchase, and hire the equipment needed on a seasonal basis. The companies also rent the devices only needed for a limited period, from coffee machines to phones, tablets, and laptops, without the need of signing a 2+ years leasing agreement.
With an assorted offer and variety of use cases, Plenti improves both availability of the latest technology, and the utilisation of devices. The most popular option, chosen by half of Plenti customers – both consumers and businesses – is 12-month subscription. Gaming consoles and VR headsets are the most popular category, accounting for over 30% of rentals.
Already revolutionising the demand side, with more and more consumers following the rent-not-buy trend, Plenti now aims to disrupt the supply side, with the introduction of its PlentiPartners program, which allows entrepreneurs to earn on renting out the devices to the end users.
With PlentiPartners, an entrepreneur purchases the devices that are then leased back to Plenti, which pays them a monthly fee. The devices are fully insured and offered to consumers and a Partner retains control of their device. At the end of the rental period, Plenti might either buy devices from a partner or return them.
The supply-side partnership program is currently open for sole proprietors and companies registered in Poland, who can easily enrol and manage their pool of devices in a web app. Its introduction allows Plenti to scale even faster while remaining asset-light.
Plenti will use the capital from the funding round to continue the rollout of PlentiPartners, as the pilot phase of the program resulted in exceeding the target by 60%. A company with over 40 employees, Plenti plans to further expand its team, hiring primarily developers, data analysts and risk assessment specialists.
“The idea behind Plenti fits perfectly into current market trends such as the circular economy and a shift in consumer behaviour from ownership towards rental of the electronic equipment. The company operates in a rapidly growing market and its business model is highly scalable. Combined with the competence and persistence of the founders of the company, this gives a great opportunity for success”, says Marcin Jaszczuk, managing partner of 4growth VC.
“Plenti has been fighting against electro waste by redefining consumption patterns and shifting from traditional source, use, waste, journey. Our goal is to invest in the best companies that contribute to sustainability, which includes responsible consumption and waste management. We are pleased to support Wojtek and their team as they introduce consumers to circular economy in the most convenient way possible”,. says Łukasz Dziekoński, managing partner of Montis Capital
“Over the last four years we’ve proven that consumers and entrepreneurs value access to their devices over ownership. We’ve developed a platform that solves the issue on the demand side. Now we are introducing the solution for the supply side, that allows us to remain asset-light, entrepreneurs to earn on device rentals, and end-users to have even easier access to the gear they need. With the trust, and the capital from our investors we can continue to develop our marketplace in Poland and get ready to expand in Europe next year”, says Wojciech Rokosz, CEO & co-founder of Plenti.
