Company:Erento

From HandWiki
Short description: Online rental marketplace in Germany


Erento
erento logo
Type of businessPrivate
Available inMultilingual
Founded2003
Headquarters,
Key peopleEugen B. Russ, CEO
Industrye-commerce
ProductsOnline rental marketplace
Websitewww.erento.com

Erento is an online rental marketplace located in Germany. Founded in 2003 by Chris Müller and Uwe Kampschulte as a Berlin start-up, Erento currently[when?] operates in the UK, Finland, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

History

The company was founded in 2003 by Chris Müller and Uwe Kampschulte as an online marketplace for rental items within Germany.[1] Erento quickly grew to Europe's largest rental marketplace, with locations in Germany, the UK, Austria and Switzerland. In 2006, Erento offered approximately 200,000 items for rental. That number tripled to over 640,000 rental items offered on Erento in 2007.[2]

In 2007, Holzbrinck Ventures, one of Germany's largest, most successful venture funds increased its ownership stake in Erento to 13 percent. Later, in 2009, founder Uwe Kampschulte left the company and was replaced by Oliver Weyergraf.[3]

In November 2013, Erento acquired Finnish online rental platform iRent.fi. As a result of this merger, Erento now operates actively in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK and Finland.[4]

Business Model

Erento's customers offer their rental items to Erento's website visitors. These rental items include personal property, such as sports cars, tools or mobile homes, as well as services.[citation needed]

In 2010, Erento changed from a commission-based model to a contact-based model. With this contact model, Erento customers can offer a certain number of articles online each month. The items are then advertised via Erento's marketing networks. When a user searches for an item, the contact details of the customer renting the good or service, such as website and phone number, are shared with the user.[3]

References