Circuly, a startup from Bielefeld, successfully completes its second round of financing, totaling their raised capital at 1.3 million euros. In its recent round of financing, circuly was able to convice the VCs neoteq ventures and Technologiefonds OWL as well as business angels from the retail sector to invest into the company. The Cologne VC Venista Ventures who already is an investor has again invested fresh capital into the startup.
B2B SaaS geared towards a circular model for renting and leasing
circuly provides direct-to-customer e-commerce companies with a software-as-a-service solution and consequently a scalable infrastructure so that also have the option to rent our their product besides the usual selling. “Using instead of owning” is the company’s creed which emphasizes circuly’s conviction that economic viability and sustainability can go hand in hand. That’s how they want do their part in establishing a circular economy.
Market trend: Leasing instead of selling
“Startups Grover and Swapfiets have popularized the concept of leasing instead of selling in the last years. The rising demand from customers lets these companies grow rapidly, 20% from one month to another”, explains circuly co-founder Victoria Erdbrügger. “With circuly, we provide companies with a quick and simple way to realize such a leasing or subscription model in their e-commerce shop. That way, they can act quickly and cost-efficiently without missing the trend.”
Several well-known brands like Fahrrad.de or TIER Mobility already use circuly’s saas solution.
The core problem: e-commerce shops are not suited to renting out products
circuly’s other co-founder, Nick Huijs, launched his own online-leasing webshop in the Netherlands in 2017 – he offered up prams and coffee makers for rent. The webshop system quickly reached the limits of its functionality, the existing systems were not made for leasing physical products.
“When companies want to implement such a leasing model, they often underestimate the complexity of the task”, says Victoria Erdbrügger. “Often, they only look at the single parts of a leasing model, like recurring payments or billing. When renting out physical products though, you need to have a comprehensive understanding of the matter.” This is where circuly’s specialty lies.
By using circuly’s turnkey solution, companies can offer a leasing or subscription model directly on top of their existing webshop architecture without any cost-intensive, self-financed software development solution.
The solution: software as an addition to e-commerce shops
“With circuly, we give existing solution like webshop systems and payment service providers a smart option for implementing renting out products”, elaborates Nick Huijs. The software is usable with every established e-commcerce system. It integrates intself into the shop’s checkout procedure as a white-label service and also provides the shop operator with a web-based application to manage the leasing model. All in all, circuly offers companies a simple and flexible solution for publishing and scaling their leasing models.
Sustainability as a program for business growth
The fresh capital is meant for hiring more staff and investing into product development and distribution. The pandemic was not the only factor, but one of several that made circuly tread new paths: The company works now 100% remote. “Our employees really appreciate that they can work from anywhere – from their own desk at home or their finca in the south, in case they want to flee the German winter.”
Another atypical factor for a company headquartered in Bielefeld: The team is comprised of many nationalities. “Until our seed phase, I was the only German-speaking team member – English has quickly become our working language. This in turn draws other talented people from all over the world”, says Victoria Erdbrügger.
Official Press Contact circuly
Victoria Erdbrügger / vicky@circuly.io / 01729484913
