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Bootstrapped companies do n’t come up in startup tidings as often as those back by venture capital , as the former do n’t have shiny funding rounds to flash . Fleetis a good instance of a company that has never raised outside cap but has been produce steadily .
The Paris - ground companyoriginallyoffered a path to rent hardware , so instead of spending a little fortune to acquire a bunch of laptops for their employees , companionship could apply Fleet to rent devices and compensate a monthly fee . The company is now launching several software services on top of its computer hardware - as - a - service proffer , from gimmick management to cybersecurity and insurance policy .
As a bootstrapped company , Fleet focus on optimizing its operation to remain as lean as possible and expend less money than it earns . For instance , the company does n’t have a storage warehouse , as it post machine like a shot to customer .
Similarly , the caller partner with financial origination , permit them manage course credit demarcation directly so that it does n’t carry any risk in case of failed payment . In commutation , financial institutions can access a previously untapped food market via Fleet . Over the days , the company hasexpandedto other products , such as smartphones , tablets , accessory , telephone set booths and furniture .
However , it has n’t been unruffled sailing all along . The startup farm in parallel of latitude with the French tech ecosystem , which grew significantly for year . But just like in other ecosystems elsewhere in the universe , startups in France have chance itharder and harderto enhance support topically . Many companies have had to do several bout of layoffs to persist undirected .
“ The retardation in startup fundraising and also hire , which we were able to predict during the 2nd half of 2022 , was quite worrying at first , ” Fleet ’s co - founder and CEO , Alexandre Berriche , told TechCrunch . “ But in the end , I think that it was good for us , as it boost us to radiate our revenue . ”
Did the inauguration think about raising money from a VC house when its node reduce their headcount to bridge over the revenue spread ? “ No , never , even when we experienced a lag in 2023 . Besides , I do n’t think money is a magic solution to anything — at best , it ’s a facilitator or gas . It does n’t serve you come up with the best possible scheme before raise , ” Berriche said .
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Besides add new product to its lineup , the company has endeavor to radiate its guest base across industries and region . Now , traditional , small and medium enterprises that are n’t backed by VCs make up the absolute majority of Fleet ’s node , which are spread across 120 countries .
Fleet now works with 1,500 companies and has around 100,000 users — its client include Personio , SafetyWing , SumUp and Seedtag . It has role in Paris , Barcelona and Berlin , and is about to open a new one in London . And July 2024 was Fleet ’s undecomposed month ever when it comes to taxation .
Having recent laptop that work is one thing , but making sure that they are decent bring off is another crucial part of the typical IT department . That ’s why Fleet is inflate to software and offering more services .
For example , Fleet can hand out laptops and smartphones with a pre - installed roving twist management ( MDM ) root , Omnissa ’s Workspace One . Customers can also take to get Bitdefender as a cybersecurity solvent or Keeper as a countersign manager for their teams .
Hofyis another company that has been working on turn IT into an outsourced service . The company wasacquired by Deel , the remote hiring platform . Services like Fleet or Hofy make sense for many companies — particularly when they have distributed team .
“ Our visual modality is to become the one - stop store for everything IT for SMBs . We conceive that offering this all - in - one solution , in particular thanks to computer leasing , lets us gain a strategic position with our customer . We can support them in implementing best practices in terms of IT and cybersecurity , ” Berriche said .
