Company Name: RentMyTool Inc
Year Founded: 2022
Headquarters: Winnipeg, MB & Calgary, AB
The Founder
Inoseta Kelvin Tokurah was born and raised in Nigeria, then immigrated to Canada in 2013 as a student.
He studied general sciences at the University of Manitoba, then acquired a diploma in Computer and Network Technology from the Manitoba Institute of Trade and Technology. For eight years, he worked with various International companies, in the roles of Business Development Manager, Regional Business IT Specialist and Senior Networks Consultant. Managing small, medium and large teams located both in Canada and around the world.
In December 2019, he quit his job to start his first company, Canadian-E-Market, a Grocery delivery platform which launched right at the dawn of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. He grew the business to six figures in revenue within the first two months.
Kelvin believes one of our major issues as a society is waste and if we can pay more attention to our wasteful habits on an individual level, we actually stand a chance at achieving sustainability. Kelvin has a passion for restoring old houses that would otherwise be torn down for new builds. The idea for RentMyTool was born as a result of one of the challenges he faced in trying to get a particular tool he needed to complete a project, without hefty upfront spending for a tool he needed to complete a one-off task. He did his research and found that a lot of Canadians own under-utilized items, sitting in storage, with very few options to share these items with their community. We see others buying new versions of these same items every day, only to also have them end up in storage after very mild use. Although people could sell these used items on sites like Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace at discounted prices, this “Go Out And Buy” approach does nothing to serve people like Kelvin who would rather pay a fraction of the price to rent that item for a single day rather than own it.
So, with his background in Technology, he set out to build Canada’s most community-engaging app, RentMyTool, to encourage Canadians to swap the wasteful “GOAB”(Go Out And Buy) approach for a more sustainable “RENT-FIRST” mentality, and help others generate income from under-utilized items they own and that would normally be sitting in storage for most of the year.
The Problem
RentMyTool is addressing four major pain points as a startup:
- Canadians need a way to maximize the value and potential of items they own to generate extra income from items that would normally be sitting in their garage, storage or basement for most of the year.
- Individual Canadians need a way to contribute to the ongoing efforts against global warming and climate change at their individual levels and be a part of something impactful on a global scale.
- Canadians need to switch the “GOAB” (Go Out and Buy) mentality for a “Rent-First” mentality, which promotes community building and discourages the impulsive buying of items with high probability of ending up in landfills that contribute to environmental pollution.
- No other peer-to-peer item rental app exits with clearly defined categories and a mission, that provides focus, simplicity and value for Canadians, who participate in peer-to-peer item rental.
The Solution
Our mobile app allows Canadians to create extra income from underutilized items they own, and at the same time allows them to contribute at an individual level to the ongoing efforts against global warming by adopting a Rent-First mentality. We are focused on solving a major environmental issue by rewarding Canadians for adopting a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle.
RentMyTool is Airbnb for Tools, Equipment, Sporting Gear, Event & Party Items.
What’s Next for RentMyTool?
We are currently raising funds for our pre-seed round and building a very robust rewards system for Canadians who engage in our peer-to-peer item rental community.
Where can people see or find you?
You can find us at any of our community building/awareness events. Find event updates on our website or on social media (Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn). You can also download our app on apple or android.
