Lensrentals, the giant online rental service for photo, video, audio, and lighting equipment, has announced the acquisition of BorrowLenses, a major competitor in the photo and video equipment rental space, TechCrunch has learned exclusively. This is a competitive field in the goods market, and neither brand has a clear advantage over the other. Both companies declined to comment on the terms of the deal, but people familiar with the transaction indicated it was likely to be an all-cash acquisition.
BorrowLenses has also been on an interesting journey. The company was acquired by Shutterfly about 10 years ago. Shutterfly was publicly traded at the time, but was later acquired by Apollo in 2021 — yes, the same Apollo that bought Yahoo, which owns TechCrunch.
Founded in 2006, Lensrentals has long held an advantage over BorrowLenses both in terms of staff numbers and total customer numbers. Lensrentals operates out of its headquarters in Tennessee (the company is largely owned by its employees) and has developed a reputation for being customer-focused and a great place to work.
Lensrentals CEO Tyler Beckman told TechCrunch that his company views BorrowLenses as a “friendly rival” who “works together to make each other better” and sees the acquisition as a benefit to the larger business. He said that he sees this as an opportunity to take advantage of this.
“When you put ownership in the hands of your employees, good things happen for your customers. We look forward to every BorrowLenses customer experiencing what I mean,” says Beckman. .
It is not yet clear how the acquisition will affect the job security of BorrowLenses' staff, or the San Carlos location itself. The acquisition is happening very quickly, and the Lens Rentals team is evaluating the possibility of retaining employees and locations as the process progresses, according to people familiar with the deal.
BorrowLenses has a wide selection of gear. The assets will be integrated into his Lensrentals' existing inventory of more than 400,000 rentable items spanning more than 6,000 different lenses, cameras, drones, lighting, audio and studio equipment, according to company officials. It is necessary to do so. This allows us to compete with local camera rental businesses. Fast nationwide shipping and comprehensive insurance gave the company an advantage over poorly run mom-and-pop camera rental shops.
The company also introduced the Lensrentals Keeper program. The program allows customers to buy rented gear at a discount, with an unofficial slogan: “If you like it, keep it.” Photographers embrace the program, which offers a low-risk purchase of used equipment. I shoot with that lens a few times, and if it works well, I buy it at a deep discount. It's not inconceivable that the newly merged company will start clearing out its surplus fleet, so now may be the time to be on the lookout for good offers.
Like Lensrentals, BorrowLenses also boasts a large inventory. The main difference between the two companies is their geographic location. BorrowLenses has established a strong presence in certain regions, complementing Lensrentals' national footprint. This local approach (for some reason it's more comfortable to have lenses shipped a few hundred miles than thousands of miles across the country) has allowed BorrowLenses to develop close relationships with its customer base.
BorrowLenses has also had a long-standing focus on educational content, providing tips, tutorials and guides designed to help customers get the most out of their rental experience. This emphasis on education and support has not only improved the customer experience, but also established BorrowLenses as a thought leader in the creative industry, committed to empowering photographers and videographers of all skill levels. Did.
In many ways, this acquisition is obvious. The two companies, which are so similar that it's hard to tell them apart, support each other by incrementally improving their local presence and educational efforts.
Of course, Beckman told TechCrunch that Lensrentals remains wary of competition from BorrowLenses. In theory, customers win when a single monolithic company can benefit from larger operations. In reality, it remains to be seen whether the big players will be able to maintain their personal reputations when the competitive element is removed, while prices remain the same.