Equipment Share, based in Columbia, Missouri, is a construction equipment rental service and provider of software to help track the status of machinery. The company received an investment of $65.3 million its most recent round in January this year, bringing its total funding to $124.1 million. Lead investors in this most recent deal are Romulus Capital and Left Lane Capital according to Owler.
Equipment Share was founded in 2014 by Jabbok Schlacks, William Schlacks, Matthew McDonald, Bradley Siegler, and Jefferey Lowe.
According to Equipment Share’s website, the company’s goal is to “help contractors manage mixed construction fleets by leveraging technology solutions to work smarter, more efficiently and increase productivity.” Equipment Share accomplishes its mission by striving to be the best place from which to rent machinery.
To make equipment rental affordable, Equipment Share acts as a marketplace, connecting those who are looking to make extra income by renting idle equipment to those looking to rent it for a specific job. No matter what type of equipment one is looking to rent—from power tools, to heavy machinery, to signage—there is an Equipment Share rental yard where the equipment can be found.
Equipment Share has 60 locations across 25 states which makes renting equipment accessible to contractors nationwide. Another feature of Equipment Share is its ES Track technology. ES Track is included on all equipment rented from Equipment Share but can also be purchased as a logistics service for equipment owned. Features of ES Track include access control, digital work orders, driver scorecards, vehicle diagnostics, equipment usage reports, geofencing, and more.
Brothers Jabbok and William Schlacks were inspired to start Equipment Share during their time as contractors. “We often faced the frustration of having to source equipment for our projects and debate between purchasing a machine that may only get used a few times a year or renting that piece of equipment for a sizable fee,” William Schlacks told Forbes in a 2017 article. They realized that there was an opportunity in the renting of the equipment that they weren’t using themselves. After working with the University of Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Center the two brothers took their business idea to Columbia Startup Weekend and won; their success proved a catalyst for the development of their business.
Fast forward to the present; Equipment Share is an international business with locations all around the United States and in New Zealand. Total revenue is a whopping $300 million, but the company has no plans of stopping its expansion or innovation of the construction world. The company has grown from a “marketplace of equipment” for connecting contractors for renting to include equipment purchases, maintenance, and their job site solutions. Amy Susan, a representative of Equipment Share has remarked, “We’re a company that continues to evolve, continues to innovate, and we truly believe we are driving the future of construction here.”
Brothers Jabbok and William Schlacks had no college education but were co-owners of Schlacks construction before founding Equipment Share. William is now CEO of the company. Matthew McDonald, who is a cofounder and software developer for Equipment Share, graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor’s in Computer Science, and worked as a Web Application Developer for Veterans United Home Loans and Delta Systems group. He also currently works as a Venture Partner for Pioneer Fund.
Brad Siegler graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor’s in Advertising. Before Equipment Share he served as CEO and founder of Bottlecap, an interactive music app, worked as a freelance business development consultant web designer, worked in marketing for Zapier, and held a job as a web designer and developer for Lift Division.
Jeffery Lowe received startup education from Y Combinator, and worked as a freelance web designer and owner/partner of Lowe Contracting before helping to start EquipmentShare.
To learn more about EquipmentShare, please visit: https://www.equipmentshare.com/.
