Fleet, based in Paris, started by offering an innovative hardware, allowing companies to avoid the expensive purchase of laptops for their employees.
Fleet has never raised outside capital, but continues to grow steadily.
Instead of buying, companies can rent devices through Fleet for a monthly fee. Today, the company has expanded to offer a variety of software services, going beyond its original “hardware-as-a-service” proposition, with solutions that include device management and cybersecurity.
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As a bootstrapped company, Fleet has focused on streamlining its operations, keeping its structure as lean as possible and saving more money than it earns. For example, the company doesn't have a warehouse, as it ships devices directly to customers.
The company partners with financial institutions, allowing them to manage credit lines directly, thus avoiding the risk of late payments. In return, financial institutions gain access to a previously untapped market through Fleet. Over the years, the company has expanded into other product categories, such as smartphones, tablets, accessories, phone booths and furniture.
However, the journey hasn’t been smooth sailing since then. The startup has grown alongside the French tech ecosystem, which has made significant progress in recent years. However, as is the case in other ecosystems worldwide, startups in France are increasingly facing difficulties in raising funding locally.
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Did the startup consider raising money from a VC firm when its clients were cutting headcount to bridge the revenue gap? “No, never, even when we experienced a slowdown in 2023. Besides, I don’t think money is a magic bullet for anything – at best, it’s an enabler or an accelerator. It doesn’t help you come up with the best possible strategy before you raise,” Berriche said.
In addition to adding new products to its lineup, the company has sought to diversify its customer base across industries and regions. Traditional, non-VC-backed small and medium-sized businesses now make up the majority of Fleet's customers, spread across 120 countries.
Fleet now works with 1,500 companies and has around 100,000 users — its clients include Personio, SafetyWing, SumUp and Seedtag. It has offices in Paris, Barcelona and Berlin, with a new one set to open in London. And July 2024 was Fleet’s best month ever in terms of revenue.
Having up-to-date, working laptops is one thing, but ensuring they are properly managed is another important part of a typical IT department. That’s why Fleet is expanding into software and offering more services.
For example, Fleet can distribute laptops and smartphones with a pre-installed mobile device management (MDM) solution, Omnissa's Workspace One. Customers can also choose to get Bitdefender as a cybersecurity solution or Keeper as a password manager for their teams.
Hofy is a company that is turning IT into an outsourcing service. It was recently acquired by Deel, a platform that specializes in remote hiring. Services like Fleet and Hofy offer significant advantages to many companies, especially when they have distribution teams.
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“Our vision is to become the destination for all IT needs of small and medium-sized businesses. We believe that offering a complete solution, especially through computer leasing, gives us a strategic advantage with our customers. Thus, we can support them in implementing best practices in the field of IT and cybersecurity,” said Berriche.
Source: techcrunch
