Snapshot
LendoBox is a software company that enables other businesses to integrate rental into their offering. They were on the cusp of launching in the camping industry, so that campsites could offer tents-to-rent alongside a pitch, when COVID hit and they had to roll back their plans.
To help ensure their survival, LendoBox were awarded an emergency grant funded by the Mayor’s Green New Deal fund to tide them over while they prepared for campsites to reopen. Post-lockdown, LendoBox have seen the uptake of their product in multiple campsites as well as accessing new industries.
What was the challenge?
LendoBox is a London-based SME offering a tech solution that adds product rental to the customer journey of other businesses. Before COVID hit, their target market was campsites, making it possible for campers to book the camping equipment they needed alongside their pitch.
They calculated that by making camping equipment easy to rent, they could offset 3,875 Kg of CO2 that would have been generated in manufacturing new equipment. Not only that, but tents are commonly made from non-recyclable polyesters so each rental reduces demand on virgin resources and avoids extra landfill.
When COVID restrictions came into play, LendoBox was on the cusp of launching their service with a large campsite provider and had multiple other campsites lined up to join them. But of course, thanks to COVID, all campsites were closed and the site staff furloughed. It meant that LendoBox lost their forecast income, had to delay their investment round, missed out on a grant opportunity and had to reduce their outgoings in order to stay in business, delaying some large contracts.
Solomia Boretska (from grant application), Founder, LendoboxWe have built the company from very little from the start, and are now beginning to really struggle to do this – but if we can survive through the next few months we can start generating revenue again soon.
What did we do?
LendoBox had demonstrated the value of their product through successful pilot projects and their resilience in acting quickly when COVID restrictions hit. They just needed to make it through a couple of months to enable them to fulfil a contract and prepare for when campsites opened again.
We were pleased to be able to offer them an emergency grant of £10,000, thanks to the Mayor of London’s Green New Deal fund, to tide them over and play a small role in their recovery.
What were the outcomes?
Having made it through the COVID restrictions, Lendobox is back on track. In those couple of months they were able to prepare for campsites reopening across the country. Lendobox has secured a contract with the Camping & Caravanning Club to facilitate tent booking and they’ve launched tent hire at 5 campsites.
They’ve also been exploring other sectors that could benefit from integrating rental into their customer journey and have been able to sign a contract with a property rental tech company to integrate furniture rental alongside unfurnished properties.
Solomia Boretska (from grant application), Founder, LendoboxThe emergency grant allowed us to continue working towards our goal for a more circular world. We are more excited than ever to be expanding our LendoBox offering to the property tech sector and disrupting consumer relationships with furniture.
What was learned?
LendoBox is a great example of how a relatively small investment by the public sector can result in the launch of innovative products and services that make it possible for the everyday consumer to improve their environmental impact. Read more about the outcomes of the Green New Deal Emergency Grants scheme and what we’ve learned about the importance of government support for small businesses here.
What’s next?
LendoBox is now also offering furniture rental to property tenants, continuing with their mission to make society more circular.
As a member of ReLondon’s Business Transformation network, we’ll continue to check in with their progress and support them through our fully funded business support programme: www.relondon.gov.uk/business
