Cameras, lenses, and lighting equipment for shooting even with relatively modest production can run into the millions of dollars. Leasing is often the name of the game, but the network of traditional equipment rentals can be difficult to pinpoint. BoxedUp took a fresh look at the space, creating a rental market – Turo or Airbnb for video equipment if you will – where device owners could offer their equipment for rent.
The company’s model works by aggregating listings from individual owners, local rental stores, and manufacturers, giving content creators access to devices and owners a National platform for device monetization. For now, the company is focused solely on the United States, but the investment will enable an upgrade in fulfillment capabilities, allowing BoxedUp to offer same-day delivery in key markets.
“With this funding, BoxedUp can focus on expanding the capabilities of our platform, allowing us to serve our customers,” said Donald Boone, CEO and Founder at BoxedUp. better local brands and rental stores across the United States. . The company recently closed $2.3 million, with funds from Slauson & Co, Collab Capital, Black Capital, and Outlander VC. . “We plan to build on this opportunity and grow our team, bringing in more technical talent and operational expertise.”
“The BoxedUp team is perfectly positioned to meet content creators without the burden of device ownership and logistics while providing device owners with an easy way to monetize approx. do not advertise their unused”, Ajay Relan, Managing Partner at Slauson & Co, which explains the thinking behind the investment. “We are excited about this intersection of the creative economy and the sharing economy and look forward to supporting the vision and expansion of this platform.”
The company started out as a rental company initially focusing on camera kits geared towards video conferencing, virtual events, and similar use cases.
“We responded quickly to many customer issues. The pandemic has hit Full Tilt, and the mainstream media really struggles with the idea that all of our talent is now completely scattered around the world. And oh, by the way, they have really bad cameras,” explains Boone. “I tested a few sets of cameras, and it looks great. A friend recommended that I start recommending these kits to the mainstream media. The first company we sold to was Blavity. And then we pick NPR, Amazon and Google and then the ball rolls really fast. “
BoxedUp stumbled upon a market where traditional players failed to cater to customer needs; Hollywood high-end productions have their own equipment rental system, but for small and mid-sized creatives, there’s nothing easy to use that the rest of the internet is used to. Once the company had a bit of traction, things started to roll.
“Do you guys make documents? Do you have anything to make it easier to hire documentary film equipment, “Boone recalls the questions that began to arise.” We had to think, “I wonder what this experience would be like if you were shooting a movie or a music video,” and we’ve come to find out it’s actually quite distressing. For now, that’s all email transactions. A videographer or videographer writes something in their iPhone notes app and sends it to a rental store. Sometimes they’re sending people direct messages.
Building a marketplace to make these types of rentals easier is the obvious next step.
“We found a Boone said a $10 billion opportunity where executive owners are renting things out via Instagram and rental shops are still using really old sites. “We thought there was an opportunity for us to become the technology platform, the market place. Device owners don’t want to deal with technology – they’re artists at the end of the day.
In the early days, the company stocked its own gear and would work with manufacturers, who would send them unboxed or cosmetically damaged items. The company will lease on their behalf. Of course, high-end equipment is expensive, and the company decided it made more sense to use equipment that is barely used, connecting it to creators who need access to high-end video equipment. grant.
“Instead of spending $30,000 to buy a camera to rent one by one, we can instead create a platform to connect people Yes that $30,000 camera. So we changed in real time and in COVID we owned everything, but now our whole shopping operation is empowering 100% retail store rental stores locally and individually operated by owners,” said Boone.
