Innovation

The service that Lendr provides is a system that allows users to rent and lend out items safely and securely to other consumers instead of buying. This is done by using a platform business model which connects lenders and renters together within a streamlined, user-friendly phone application. This allows anybody interested in making some extra money able to lend out items they have at home by signing up to Lendr and adding items to their inventory.

According to Drew Mortensen, “The main value proposition for Lendr was to allow people to make money off of items they already owned”. Drew continues to say “Lendr also plays onto environmental benefits by reusing and lending rather than wasting and purchasing new items.” Their mission was to help people make “pocket money” while doing minimal work by lending their household items. This also contributed positively to the environment as it will drive people away from purchasing items new from the store. Overall, this innovation is related to their mission as they have successfully created an application that allows user to rent their items effectively and safely.

Inspiration

As Lendr outline in their mission statement located on Facebook, the main goal they are concerned with is revolutionizing the consumer rental industry. They want to connect their users to rental possibilities as quickly, affordably and safely as possible!

A huge reason this idea was sparked was due to the creators of Lendr spending a tremendous amount of money on textbooks while attending university. “You spend like 500 dollars on these things and you only use them like once” remarked company co-founder Drew Mortensen. They felt that renting textbooks seemed like a much more affordable idea. At this time the creators could not find a reliable service that allowed you to do this, therefore realizing the opportunity that was presented to them. The idea of textbooks introduced so many other rental possibilities and allowed the company to expand.

Overall impact

The app Lendr has created a convenient, easy way for individuals to connect and transact with each other, while allowing people to save money by not having to purchase a product, but rather use Lendr when they only need it for a limited time. In terms of environmental impact, Lendr allows users to share goods with each other, which means that there is overall less waste. Drew Mortensen spoke briefly about the environmental impact of Lendr. Lendr “plays into the environmental sense, with the whole aspect of reusing and sharing goods, which minimizes waste as well”. If people are able to borrow products via a simple, convenient app for their phone, they are more likely to decide to borrow for a short time than go out and purchase a product, which will decrease in needless waste.

Some short-term effects Lendr has had is noticed with university students. Students that require expensive textbooks now have an alternative to spending hundreds of dollars on books. With Lendr, they have the option to find a someone else with their needed text and rent it from them for much less than what they’d pay for it new. Not only textbooks, but things needed for niche tasks that may be expensive to buy, but with Lendr there is that option to rent them. In terms of long-term effects, Mortensen mentioned they had spoken to some already established rental companies and considered “shifting our focus to catering to rental businesses that already exist. They typically don’t have an online infrastructure, so we’re reaching out to them to say we have a new innovative product that allows you to get more traffic to your rentals.” It seems that in the long-term Lendr may consider working with established businesses to further their mutual interests.

Business benefit

Ryan Frampton and Drew Mortensen initially started this company through the help of the University of Guelph CBaSE Incubator program. This program gave the startup some capital and guidelines on how to execute the business idea and promote growth. Lendr used the capital as well as help from several interns to build the product and release it to the public. Although the company is for-profit, they are still in the development stage and are currently working with other businesses to create a more sustainable platform. The business idea definitely has potential and may really have a huge impact in the rental industry in the near future.

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Social and environmental benefit

Environmental benefits are also found with Lendr as the increase of renting will reduce the rate of throwing away items and purchasing new items. Homeowners who have considered throwing out items that have been laying around the house may find a suitable renter who can use their product instead of letting it go to waste. Lendr really plays on reducing and reusing as consumers are now interested in renting and paying less than purchasing and buying new. Although the company is still new there is a growing trend of reusing which Lendr is building its business around. The more people that reuse will help the overall environment as production will slow down and less emissions will be immersed into the environment.

Interview

Drew Mortensen, Co-Founder & CCO