Heavy-duty vehicle finder
At ESA’s business incubator in Bavaria, Germany, three entrepreneurs have launched an online platform for renting construction equipment.
By combining construction site locations and satnav information on available machinery, the closest suppliers are identified with the best deals on rental, insurance and delivery costs.
Their idea is to quickly provide any construction site in Germany with information on where best to rent needed equipment.
Having founded the klarx GmbH company a year ago, the trio is now joining ESA’s Business Incubation Centre to develop the business further.
“Working with almost 1000 professional suppliers of heavy-duty constructionvehicles, such as excavators and bulldozers, we can quickly identify the equipment nearest to any given construction site in Germany,” explains Matthias Handschuh, klarx GmbH co-founder and CEO.
“Our algorithm calculates in real-time upon request the rental costs and the time of delivery, via GPS tracking of the equipment combined with the location of the site.
“We also provide information indicating who can transport the machinery from the suppliers to the construction site.”
Through the platform, builders have access to 150 000 machines, delivered in the shortest time and to the best price.
The equipment is tracked to provide the exact time of arrival at the sites.
klarx GmbH is being supported during the first two years at ESA Business Incubation Centre Bavaria's Oberpfaffenhofen branch office.
Launched in 2009 and managed by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO), the centre works with its partners – DLR, Airbus Defence and Space, Fraunhofer IIS and Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Berchtesgadener Land – to provide startups with financial and technical support at four branch offices: Oberpfaffenhofen, Ottobrunn, Nürnberg and Berchtesgadener Land.
Throughout Europe, ESA is supporting 130 new start-ups at the Agency’s 13 incubators, as part of its Technology Transfer Programme. Four more centres are to open in Ireland, Austria and Switzerland.
Entrepreneurs and young start-ups can apply to join the centres in four selection rounds each year. The next application deadline is the end of August.More on the incubators here.
