Fluid Truck Share vehicle.
Source: Fluid Truck
A decade after ride-sharing exploded in popularity, a start-up from just outside Denver is betting there’s an untapped market for those looking to share commercial trucks in a market dominated by the likes of Penske and Ryder.
Fluid Truck, which started in 2019, has raised $63 million in its first external round of fundraising.
“For most small and mid-size businesses, it’s such a pain to rent trucks that they are forced to buy or lease vehicles” said James Eberhard, founder and CEO of Fluid Trucks. “Our platform allows them to quickly access and book a vehicle as quick as you can book an Uber. It allows them to flex up and flex down to really solve all their needs.”
A truck is seen in front of the U-Haul facility as the city continues Phase 4 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus on August 31, 2020 in New York City.
John Lamparski | Getty Images
Fluid Truck is entering a niche market that has long been dominated by companies ranging from U-Haul to Ryder to Enterprise Rent-A-Car. All are firms that specialize in renting vans or box vehicles to consumers and small companies. Eberhard believes the process is slow and cumbersome, the owners of small companies will gravitate to an app and service to supply a commercial vehicle on short notice.
“It takes a couple minutes and you can do it 24 hours a day seven days a week,” he said.
On paper, Fluid Truck’s business plan makes sense. The challenge is winning over business owners who, for years, have turned to establish players like Penske Truck Rentals. Penske has a fleet of more than 50,000 vehicles, ten times the size of Fluid Truck’s current fleet.
As Fluid Truck looks to expand, it will be leveraging its relationship with IKEA. The furniture chain’s investment arm is one of several companies backing the Series A funding. In a statement announcing his firm’s investment, Krister Mattson, managing director of Ingka Investments said, “this is another step in enabling IKEA retail to provide last mile delivery services to our customers, continue to improve on our customer promise, while also reducing our environmental footprint.”
While Eberhart could envision Fluid Trucks someday being part of a fleet of vehicles that could assist IKEA customers, the focus for now is expanding operations from the current footprint of more than 25 markets.
“The complexities of running and managing a fleet are one of the biggest headaches that most businesses don’t want to deal with,” said Eberhart. “We can make it easy through our platform.”
— CNBC’s Meghan Reeder contributed to this report.
