P2P motorhome rentals, ShareACamper, gains €2m seed cap
Online firm ShareACamper has gained €2m ($2.2m) in seed funding to expand its peer-to-peer (P2P) motorhome rental business. ShareACamper currently operates in Germany, Australia and New Zealand and allows campervan owners to rent out their vehicles, with the company's insurance partner providing full comprehensive insurance for the vehicle, a previous barrier for owners to rent out their motorhomes. Listings are free, with motorhome owners charged commission on sales and renters paying a booking fee.

The motorhomes industry could easily have a seat at the top table of independent travel - the "hotel on wheels" concept appeals across demographics and geographies.

Booking motorhomes online is emerging as part of the peer-to-peer/consumer-to-consumer trend. A few months ago, the world's largest online motorhome rental business, Motorhome Republic, became part of Australia's WebJet.

ShareACamper operates in the same field, and has picked up €2 million in startup funding to grow its business, which currently operates in Germany, Australia and New Zealand. It operates on a simple model of charging motorhome owners commission on any sales and travellers a booking fee.

Before the Q&A, here's a 60 second video pitch:

What problem does your business solve?

ShareACamper helps owners of motorhomes (RVs) to rent out their own vehicles, and makes more vehicles available for hire in the market.

For owners of vehicles, the typical utilisation of motorhomes is between 3 and 4 weeks a year. That means they are not used for 48 weeks a year.

Currently, owners cannot just rent them out, as normal insurance policies do not cover the scenario of ‘hire for reward’, and therefore the vehicles would not be protected.

But when owners list their vehicles on our website, our insurance partner provides a full comprehensive insurance for the vehicle, therefore owners can rent out their vehicles confidently, knowing that they are covered and that their own insurance premiums won’t be affected.

Seasonality is an issue for consumers as well as for the industry. During the summer holidays all the established rental companies have all of their fleet hired out, and they have unmet demand.

Allowing owners to rent out private RVs allows the supply of motorhomes to grow without the capital investment required.

Therefore, we also (to a lesser degree) solve the problem for travellers that otherwise would not have been able to rent a motorhome in the summer.

Names of founders, their management roles, and number of full-time paid staff?

Founders: Florian Dahlmann and Jan Bartel.

Florian Dahlmann is responsible for product development, online marketing and analytics. Prior Experience: The Boston Consulting Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Jan Bartel is responsible for sales and marketing and investor relations. Prior Experience: Theron Consulting (McKinsey spin off), and Unity Media

ShareACamper currently employs around 30 staff in offices located in Cologne, Germany; Sydney, Australia, and Christchurch, New Zealand

Funding arrangements?

ShareACamper has just received seed funding of approx €2 million.

Investors are:

Two larger German companies from the RV industry

Werkdigital, a Software Development Company

Private Business Angels from the founders’ personal network

ShareACamper is a commission-based model. We take a service fee from motorhome owners (which covers the insurance cost and then some)

We also take a booking fee from travellers

Why do you think the pain point you’re solving is painful enough that customers are willing to pay for your solution?

For owners - they don’t pay for our solution, but they earn money with us. The fee is deducted from the pay-outs. We have owners that have earned around €15,000 with a single vehicle in a single season – where otherwise the vehicle would have just gathered dust

For travellers, it is a familiar way for them to book a camper.

External validation?

We have mentors from Germany and New Zealand that work within the RV Industry and believe in our model. The core belief is that the caravanning industry is long overdue for digitalisation.

We have several hundred owners already on our website, and have processed camper bookings of around $500k so far (with very little to no advertising for travellers)

Both founders studied together at WHU, which is the German epicentre for startup founders - the founders of Rocket Internet, Zalando, and many more startups studied here. The WHU Network allows contacts to other startups and experienced and ‘tried and proven’ consultants.

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