Bootstrapped companies don’t come up in startup news as often as those backed by venture capital, as the former don’t have shiny funding rounds to flaunt. Fleet is a good example of a company that has never raised outside capital but has been growing steadily.
The Paris-based company originally offered a way to rent hardware, so instead of spending a small fortune to acquire a bunch of laptops for their employees, companies could use Fleet to lease devices and pay a monthly fee. The company is now launching several software services on top of its hardware-as-a-service proposition, from device management to cybersecurity and insurance.
As a bootstrapped company, Fleet focused on optimizing its operations to remain as lean as possible and spend less money than it earns. For instance, the company doesn’t have a warehouse, as it sends devices directly to customers.
Similarly, the company partners with financial institutions, letting them handle credit lines directly so that it doesn’t carry any risk in case of failed payments. In exchange, financial institutions can access a previously untapped market via Fleet. Over the years, the company has expanded to other products, such as smartphones, tablets, accessories, phone booths and furniture.
However, it hasn’t been smooth sailing all along. The startup grew in parallel with the French tech ecosystem, which grew significantly for years. But just like in other ecosystems elsewhere in the world, startups in France have found it harder and harder to raise funding locally. Many companies have had to do several rounds of layoffs to stay afloat.
“The slowdown in startup fundraising and also hiring, which we were able to predict during the second 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 beneficial for us, as it encouraged us to diversify our revenue.”
Did the startup think about raising money from a VC firm when its clients reduced their 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 solution to anything — at best, it’s a facilitator or accelerator. It doesn’t help you come up with the best possible strategy before raising,” Berriche said.
In addition to adding new products to its lineup, the company has tried to diversify its client base across industries and regions. Now, traditional, small and medium enterprises that aren’t backed by VCs make up the majority of Fleet’s clients, which are spread across 120 countries.
Fleet now works with 1,500 companies and has around 100,000 users — its customers include Personio, SafetyWing, SumUp and Seedtag. It has offices in Paris, Barcelona and Berlin, and is about to open a new one in London. And July 2024 was Fleet’s best month ever when it comes to revenue.
Having recent laptops that work is one thing, but making sure that they are properly managed is another important part of the typical IT department. That’s why Fleet is expanding to 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 another company that has been working on turning IT into an outsourced service. The company was acquired by Deel, the remote hiring platform. Services like Fleet or Hofy make sense for many companies — especially when they have distributed teams.
“Our vision is to become the one-stop shop for everything IT for SMBs. We believe that offering this all-in-one solution, in particular thanks to computer leasing, lets us gain a strategic position with our customers. We can support them in implementing best practices in terms of IT and cybersecurity,” Berriche said.