The co-founders of REPOWR know all about the traditional inefficiencies surrounding the logistics industry.
Patrick Visintainer and Spencer Ware, who worked in logistics and transportation insurance and liability respectively, saw that trucks were often underutilized when it came to moving things from point A to point B.
“[We] saw the inefficiencies, downtime, and cost that went into running a fleet,” Visintainer told Hypepotamus via email. “[We] came together and after extensive research and talking with companies saw the importance of asset utilization for these companies to be successful.”
REPOWR works as a marketplace for truck and trailer rentals. And we aren’t talking about pickup trucks; the marketplace lists flatbed trailers, dry bans, semi-trailers, and large refrigerated trailers known as reefers.
The startup estimates that underutilized trucks and trailers leave $45 billion on the table overall.
“Traditional methods for sourcing equipment capacity are failing trucking companies, which ripples throughout the supply chain and ultimately affects the economy and consumers,” COO Ware said in a press statement.
Visintainer told Hypepotamus that REPOWR’s “agnostic approach within the industry gives us the ability to collaborate and connect all parties involved in the Supply Chain.”
Users can list their assets from anywhere in the Continental US and set their own rental rates.
The startup is part of a growing number of “assets-as-a-service” marketplaces that look to alleviate supply-and-demand challenges. These challenges have been front and center during the ongoing global supply chain crunch brought on by idle trucks and an overall labor shortage.
Customers include startup trucking companies and other ventures in the transportation space.
And its latest investor suggests the Birmingham startup has caught the attention of major supply chain players.
REPOWR announced this week it has raised a $4.2 million seed round. Kansas-based VC firm Koch Disruptive Technologies led the round with additional participation from Perot Jain in Dallas, Plug and Play Tech Center in California, and other strategic angel investors. The team is across the Southeast with a large concentration in Birmingham, which Visintainer described as a tech ecosystem where “everyone is always available and eager to help.”
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Featured photo (Spencer Ware & Patrick Visintainer) provided by REPOWR