Archive for the ‘Investors’ Category

Here is the text from the press release we posted this morning.

You can view it on the wire here.

iRent2u Launches Online Rental Marketplace in the $85 billion Rental Industry

Launching with over 1 million items in over 10 categories, iRent2u is the preeminent destination for all online rentals

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–iRent2u, LLC, the online rental marketplace, today launches www.iRent2u.com where you can rent anything from anyone. iRent2u is where everyone can get more from what they already have. Users can either lend their assets to make money, or borrow from others to save money. The company provides 24/7 online access to goods, clear inventory lists, easy comparison shopping and a built in reservations system. iRent2u facilitates the entire process by building a community of people who enjoy helping each other.

According to First Research, the current rental marketplace in the U.S. is in excess of $85 billion and is trending towards consolidation with about 65,000 small companies, each with one to three small stores. Rentals are the most efficient way to fill temporary needs, yet until iRent2u renters faced many obstacles. Items have been hard to find, over priced and inconveniently located. A highly fragmented industry, many rentals are handled by small stores. Often these small rental companies don’t have the expertise or desire to manage a website. In fact most stores do not list the items they lend, show their availability, or accept reservations online. Up until now, the industry has been lagging and inefficient.

iRent2u was founded by three entrepreneurs as they studied for their MBA’s: Roy Bacharach, Tim McCormack and Nils von Bothmer, who then went on to win the 2007 Pepperdine Business Plan Competition. Von Bothmer conceived the idea when he moved to Los Angeles, California and needed a drill to assemble his new furniture. Not wanting to purchase one for single use when there had to be ten within a one mile radius, he knew there had to be a better way.

The company bridges problems like this with a simple, innovative solution, the website www.iRent2u.com, where everyone can get more from what they already have. With 24/7 online access to goods, clear inventory lists, easy comparison shopping, and a built in reservations system. iRent2u makes renting accessible. People can choose to spend less money and buy fewer products, thus reducing environmental waste. iRent2u is eco-friendly, helps prevent over consumption and facilitates the entire process by building a community of people who enjoy helping each other.

“Ours is a simple solution that resolves serious problems. iRent2u is where everyone can get more from what they already have,” said von Bothmer, the company’s chief operations officer. “Users can either lend their assets to make money or borrow from others to save money. We make renting accessible. People can choose to spend less money and buy fewer products, thus reducing environmental waste and making the world more efficient.”

Product Benefits, Features and Pricing

iRent2u provides easy 24/7 access for customers to go to the site, browse or search for what they want and view user’s rental listings. Users can stay in control of the entire process — publish prices, or keep them secret; allow discounts for frequent customers or charge everyone the same rate; deliver to them, or have them pick it up.

Users can make reservations, read and approve rental contracts, leave their deposits, and even refer friends from within iRent2u. With a rapidly growing customer list of lenders, iRent2u is a no risk, online listing of rental items including the following features:

• • Inventory management and scheduling – provides an easy system to control assets online which is accessible virtually anywhere.
  • Customer comments and ratings – offers advice from other customers.
  • Reservations – provide an easy way to reserve an item for a future date.
  • Online contract system – allows users to reduce work and save time by managing contracts online.
  • Built in directions and mapping – helps people find each other quickly and easily.
  • Free to try, and no upfront listing fees – users are free to create an account and list items for rent. Once a customer completes a transaction, iRent2u keeps a small percentage of each customer’s transaction fee.

The iRent2u service is absolutely free to create an account and list items for rent. Once a customer completes a transaction, iRent2u keeps only 10 percent (10%) of each customer’s transaction fee plus a $1.00 service fee. Lenders can even reduce their transaction fees to five percent (5%) by referring their friends to the site. Transaction fees drop one percentage point (up to five) for every referral that creates an iRent2u account.

Benefit to Rental Companies

As an online aggregator for rentals, iRent2u provides rental outlets with a way to succeed in a fast changing market, giving small businesses the same tools as larger companies. By gaining more exposure on iRent2u, these companies can increase both rentals and revenues with no additional risk. Rental companies simply pay a small transaction fee once a sale is complete.

iRent2u envisions existing rental companies as resellers, partners or advertisers. Early inventory for the company has been provided by a broad range of companies including BookRenter (textbook rentals for students), Ridester (ride sharing), Amadeus (20+ major car rental companies), and Stratos Jets (private jet charter service).

About iRent2u LLC (www.iRent2u.com)

The online rental marketplace where you can rent anything from anyone. iRent2u offers 24/7 online access to goods, clear inventory lists, easy comparison shopping and a built in reservation system, making renting accessible. People can choose to spend less money and buy fewer products, thus reducing environmental waste and making the world more efficient. iRent2u facilitates the entire process by building a community of people who enjoy helping each other.

Contacts

iRent2u, LLC
805-617-4654
info@iRent2u.com
or
Media Contact:
pr@iRent2u.com

Popularity: 100% [?]

Inviting 25 Industry Experts to our latest Web 2.0 Start Up: iRent2u.com.

Do You Qualify?
We’re Inviting 25 Industry Experts to a sneak peak of our site.

iRent2u.com is in Live Private Beta set to launch publicly November 15th. We will allow a select group of people early access on Nov 8th. This is your chance to be the first to view this exciting new site.

What is iRent2u.com?
It’s the solution to a problem we all have. A way to get more from less. Its an EBay for Rentals, an Online Rental Marketplace. A two sided market that allows people to lend and borrow private assets from each other. Launching with over 1 million items online, it is sure to make a dramatic impact on the over $100 Billion US rental market.

We are Seeking:
Industry experts in Web 2.0; Online Sales and Marketing, Legal Affairs, Business Development, Venture Firms, Avid Online Users, and of course Bloggers & Podcasters.

Would you like to participate? All recommendations and feedback welcome.

Email: feedback@irent2u.com (subject: industry expert) or reply to this question.

Thank You

Popularity: 10% [?]

New “green” podcast series covers revolutionary companies changing the world using sustainable and clean technologies.

GreenTech.fM, a podcast series with entrepreneur & co-founder of iRent2u.com, Tim McCormack, and renowned green architect Robert Mechielsen, is now available online. So far 3 shows have been published (shows zero, one and two), with new shows to be announced every second Tuesday.

The series focuses on current and future environmentally friendly technologies that have the potential to correct and prevent issues created by pollution, overpopulation and energy dependency.

When asked why he was doing a podcast on green technologies, at the same time he was starting an ecommerce site for rentals, Tim McCormack said “We all have to pay attention to what is happening in the world. At iRent2u.com we believe strongly in creating systems that support positive environmental stewardship. Our business model at iRent2u is focused on helping people be more efficient, save money, and reduce waste; but we are far from the only company doing this. I wanted to help everyone become aware of all the incredible things entrepreneurs are doing to make the world a better, safer, & cleaner place.”

Robert Mechielsen, a “green” architect from Holland who now lives in Topanga, CA. had this to say. “This is so exciting. Every day we find new companies and technologies that are breaking all the rules. From the zero emission Tesla motor car, to the enormous growth in wind energy, and the incredible breakthroughs in construction that create homes with 80% to 90% less energy use, it is truly a revolution. As I have dedicated the last 25 years of my life towards building homes that are both beautiful and have low emissions, this is a topic that is very important to me. I love looking at all the new technologies, and can’t wait to start interviewing all the wonderful people who are making these breakthroughs.”

What is a podcast?

A podcast is like a radio show, except instead of turning on your radio, you go to a website and download it (for free). Many people then put these shows onto their iPods (hence the name “pod”cast) and listen to them when convenient. One nice feature of podcasts is that you can subscribe, using programs like iTunes (free from apple.com). Once you subscribe they download automatically to your computer, making it easy to stay current.

“On this show we focus 100% on the heroic efforts of inventors, engineers and investors to create technologies that will counter Global Warming,” Tim also mentioned. ” Many green publications spend all their time trying to scare people. Of course informing people of the dangers is important, but this is not our focus. We start the show with the assumption that people know something needs to be done, and then go from there. We see such incredible potential, and are truly excited to share that with the world. It is a very different message.”

To this Robert added “the Green movement is no longer just for hippies and extremists. Finally green has gone mainstream. Millions of entrepreneurs, scientists, and investors all over the world now realize there is big money to be made in efficiency, cleanliness, and in sustainable economic systems. It is a very exciting time!”

The Shows:

The first 11 shows are conversational style between Tim and Robert, with Robert the expert on current green technologies and Tim asking the questions that anyone new to the field would ask. From show #11 on, there will be interviews with leading scientists, entrepreneurs, & investors regarding the current trends and advances.

The first show, show zero, gives an introduction of the hosts and the show. The following ten shows cover such topics as:

0001 – What are Green Technologies?
0002 – 20 Emerging Green Technologies (the Rapid 20 Show)
0003 – Sustainability, Issues and Progress
0004 – Solar Power, How Does it Work?
0005 – SCIP Construction, A Revolution in Building Technology
0006 – Toxicity in Everyday Living
0007 – Using Nature to Reduce Energy Consumption
0008 – Bio Mimicry, What is it & Why?
0009 – Ecotourism, How Sexy is Green?
0010 – Land Restoration & Preservation Techniques

Don’t get left behind. Find out what is happening in the Green revolution.

GreenTech.fM is committed to quality and studies every topic before publication. The site lists links to show notes and the topics discussed for verification and further research. GreenTech.fM is dedicated to bringing green technologies to the forefront of future development.

Listen for free at www.GreenTech.fM today!

Popularity: 26% [?]

I am happy to say that our survey has blasted through the 500 barrier, well on its way to hitting that exciting and elusive 1,000 responses mark!

This weekend, after Pepperdine university so kindly sent out the survey to a bunch of our old graduating classes, the survey blasted by 500 all the way up to hitting 544 responses. Once again the responses have been great. Here are a few fun statistics that we have taken out of it.

But for anyone who hasn’t taken it yet, here is the link. Don’t peak at what other people said, take the survey yourself first! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=0S3pPYxkR6S0eGbiQVlZ7A_3d_3d

Now On to the results. I don’t want to give away the whole survey here, but I will give you five of some of the more interesting statistics we pulled from it.

• 86.2% would be willing to lend their personal items to their neighbors
• 82.3% would be willing to rent items from their neighbors
• 85.1% feel comfortable paying to borrow items they need
• 52.1% would be willing to lend items even if they were only rented once or twice a year
• For most items questioned, between 5 and 6 times as many people were willing to borrow items than lend them, which provides an excellent value proposition to lenders
• 94.8% of our respondents would be willing to either lend or borrow items. Out of 500 people surveyed, only 26 said they would not be willing to do one of the two options

So as you can tell, we have been getting very positive responses. This of course bodes very well for our business model, and we look forward to getting everyone on the site and giving them a chance to prove their bold statements. =^)

Speaking of the site, it is coming along very well. We have made tremendous project, in part thanks to some great effort on our web development team, A Small Orange. We are very very excited to give you a chance to run amok on the site, but first we want to work out some of the little bugs.

We will be posting new screen shots soon though, so make sure to keep checking back. It is looking great, working well, and getting us all pumped to launch as soon as possible. I can’t wait to show you have far it has come.

Look for new shots to be up within the week. For now, thanks for visiting, thanks for taking the survey, and thanks to all our die hard fans who voted for us on the Eventful box below. We appreciate it.

Popularity: 9% [?]