Lendor: sustainability through collaborative consumption
Welcome to Shaper Impact Capital’s series of articles showcasing impact startups doing amazing things around the world. Here, we would be diving into Lendor, a Singapore-based short-term rental marketplace for consumers and businesses that promotes a circular economy through collaborative consumption.
In conversation with: Chuan Wei Zhang, Co-Founder and CEO of Lendor
UNSDGs: #12 Responsible Consumption and Production
Looking to fundraise: $1,000,000 (Seed)
The Problem: 80% of things people buy and keep at home are never used while 56% of retail businesses here in Singapore rent extra storage just to store inventory. At the same time, Singaporeans produce 60k tonnes of e-waste every year. I think we can do better at optimizing and monetizing our physical resources through sharing. But our survey shows that 92% of both businesses and individuals are afraid of misuse and damage when sharing or renting.
The Solution: Our solution is to empower the circular economy by letting consumers use products on-demand in an affordable, convenient and secure manner through rentals.
The Market: The rental market for consumer products is expected to grow to $195 billion by 2025, fueled by shifting consumer patterns with the rise of the millennial workforce. This consumer segment grew up with on-demand and sharing services and possess a greater awareness towards the circular economy and sustainability.
The Team: Our core team has years of experience building digital products and marketplaces and in B2C marketing. We have also held leadership positions in top startups and tech companies. CEO and Co-founder Wei Zhang has 7 years of experience working directly with MNCs and Government Ministries to build digital products while COO and Co-founder Jason is a former VP at Lazada and the 2nd employee in Kerry Logistics in Indonesia which grew to 2000 employees when he left.
Recent Success:
- 55% average MoM growth over last 12 months
- Recently achieved a $100k past 12-month GMV of circular economy
- Planted 500 trees equivalent in carbon emission reductions
- Sold 150 end of cycle refurbished laptops and tablets that would otherwise be recycled to foreign domestic workers. These laptops and tablets would be sent to their home countries for use.
Recent Challenges: We raised a pre-seed round earlier this year and are putting together an awesome team. However, multiple lock downs and work from home arrangements are an obstacle for forming strong bonds within our launcher team. Still, our numbers show that the team is coping well with the demands of growing a startup in a post-Covid environment.
Why we love Lendor: On the impact front, Lendor estimates that every 4 rentals on their platform prevents an unnecessary purchase. Commercially, we are excited about the growth opportunity in its new ‘Try Now Buy Later’ offering in partnership with e-commerce sites and expansion to other Southeast Asian markets.
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