Equippo, a global online market place for used heavy equipment, has closed its first seed financing round with a mid-six-figure sum.
The round was led by the venture capital company b-to-v, which has two active funds, local agencies in St Gallen, Switzerland and Berlin, Germany, as well as nearly 200 paid members in one of Europe’s leading networks for entrepreneurial, private investors. B-to-v’s two in-house funds respectively have a volume of nearly €30 million. B-to-v invests €20-30 million in new and current investments/year. International angel investors from the b-to-v network were also involved.
Equippo will invest the fresh capital to expand and amplify seller acquisition, online marketing, and organisational structure with focus on Russia, Africa, and South America.
Equippo’s founding team comprised Michael Rohmeder and Philipp Knobel, an industry expert with 20 years’ experience in the international heavy equipment business and an IT-development manager with as many years of experience as CTO and developer for internet applications.
Equippo serves markets in nine languages across five continents and leads an international team from Zug, Switzerland.
Michael Rohmeder, CEO of Equippo, says: “It was exactly right to begin as a ‘lean star-tup’ and bring a product live quickly and without investment. It was the logical way to reach our first phase goals with limited resources. The investment with b-to-v now allows us to prepare for the next development stage with much more power. We are really happy with b-to-v.”
Florian Schweitzer, partner at b-to-v, says: “I’ve known and watched Michael Rohmeder since 1999. He impressed me already as a student when he created Toxic.fm in no time, a radio station that is still very successful today. I am convinced that Michael will revolutionise the very complex used equipment industry, one that is well-known to him. I’m also thankful that we can invest in Philipp Knobel, who was key in programming b-to-v’s first online platform in 2000.”
The global market for construction machinery has a forecasted 2015 volume of more than US$109 billion (Source: Statista), aqnd it is rising.
The Equippo founders are said to use a transparent fixed-price model including delivery to buyers worldwide, and in the last ten months, the company says it has grown to ten full and part-time employees.
On its international market place, Equippo offers used heavy equipment such excavators, loaders, asphalt pavers, and aerial platforms.
The company says it aims to bring sellers and buyers together, and to make the international buying and selling process as easy as possible. Equippo also has an international, offline sales team to complement the ease of online transactions with professional consultations.
