Start Up Spotlight Brandenburg: UniRents
At this point, we will be presenting exciting start-ups from Brandenburg in the next few weeks. We also want to contribute to networking and matchmaking of search queries. Enjoy reading these inspiring company insights!
UniRents: Everyday products rental service for exchange students
Spotlight interview with UniRents founder Davide Senigalliesi. By renting everyday products, UniRents saves unnecessary waste and makes it easier for exchange students to get started in the Brandenburg/Berlin area. With his idea, Davide is supporting the EU goals for the circular economy, sustainability in cities and municipalities, climate protection and zero waste!
Hello Davide, how did you come up with the idea for UniRents?
Exchange students face the problem of having to buy new everyday items and then having to resell, give away or even dispose of them - usually at a loss. UniRents offers a practical, cost-effective solution: renting the products for the required period. This saves money and reduces waste at the same time.
What are the key features of the products and services?
We offer a wide range of products tailored to the needs of exchange students. There are, for example, kitchen sets with cooking utensils to dishes, but also electrical appliances, bicycles or bedroom furnishings. Our user-friendly platform offers 24/7 customer service and we can deliver within 24 hours of an order being placed. We then collect the products on the day of departure.
What is special about your offer?
Our offers have the advantage that our users only pay the pro rata price instead of the full price and also save the time of getting and getting rid of them around the time of arrival and departure. Reuse also saves a lot of waste that the approximately 1.5 million exchange students would generate each year. UniRents cooperates with 8 universities and has already saved 1 ton of waste in the first 18 months.
What are UniRents highlights?
- More than 100 orders in 3 semesters: 10, 20 and 58 customers respectively (some customers placed multiple orders)
- Total amount of waste saved: 1050 kg (average weight of an order 10.5 * 100 customers)
- Average amount of money saved for customers: €83.5
- Cooperation with HU Berlin, TH Wildau, ESN Berlin, HTW LEI, FU Berlin, STWWB and ESN Potsdam (currently with TU Berlin, HTW)
- Operational in: Berlin, Wildau and Potsdam from summer semester 2025
What market phase is the startup currently in?
In the growth phase.
What are UniRents' current challenges?
I need support for clear branding and a marketing strategy with target group-oriented campaigns.
We are looking for an agency or agile logistics company for order processing that can not only fulfill "pack and ship", but also handle the return processing
How did you come up with the idea?
Talking to other exchange students, I realized how many are in the situation of having to buy glasses, dishes, pots, pans, etc. first and then having to sell or dispose of them after a short time. With this problem in mind and my passion for entrepreneurship and the idea of avoiding unnecessary waste, I came up with the business idea of a rental service for household goods.
What motivates you?
Above all it´s the ecological thought behind it, that motivates me. Since the start of UniRents, we have been able to deliver 1 ton of products and take them back accordingly. That's a lot that would otherwise have been wasted.
Personally, it's important to me to take my service to the next level, to generate sales so that I can make a living from it. This would also allow me to show the doubters that my idea is not just a dream.
What advice would you give other founders?
My strategy and structure - the "Build Measure Learn" loop - comes from the Lean Startup. My advice to any first-time founder is to test every assumption (really every one!) about the market. To take it a step further, don't just rely on analysis, but really go out and talk to people in person, customers and other stakeholders!
Thank you very much for the interview and good luck for the future!
Contakt: Davide Senigalliesi
Webpage: www.unirents.de
