London tech platform Fat Llama has been snapped up in a £34.5 million deal.
Fat Llama allows users to list and rent products including bikes, drones and cameras. They can leave reviews about the products they have rented.
Swedish competitor Hygglo has swooped to acquire the London company and will create a single combined online rental marketplace, with the Fat Llama branding retained in the UK and US.
Founded in 2016 by Chaz Englander and Rosie Dallas, the company was previously backed with $13m of funding from the likes of Atomico, Y Combinator and Blossom Capital.
“I couldn’t imagine a better future for the business than this acquisition with Hygglo. We’re on exactly the same page when it comes to powering this rental revolution across Europe and the world,” said Englander.
Fat Llama, which currently lists 350,000 items available to rent, says one of its members made £250,000 from renting out belongings last year.
The company saw demand for rentals soar during COVID-19. It turned a profit for the first time last year.
Ola Degerfors, CEO of Hygglo, added: “Chaz and Rosie have built Fat Llama into an incredible company, with advanced verification technology, great design and a loyal customer base of both renters and lenders.
“This is a really exciting moment for us to come together and create the world’s biggest and most sophisticated rental platform and enable people across Europe and the US to have more sustainable lifestyles through buying less and renting more.”
A proposed merger between Fat Llama and Canadian firm Ruckify was abandoned late last year.
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