Equipment Connect

Equipment Connect is an asset ﬁnance marketplace hosting equipment vendors and funders that offer small businesses access to lease ﬁnance, resale and lifecycle management of assets.

Equipmentconnect.co.uk

EquipmentConnect is a multi-funder marketplace for SMEs seeking to finance heavy equipment and machinery. The equipment vendor is hosted on the platform to ensure a fully integrated process and counterparties benefit from digital execution on all documentation. Equipment insurance and maintenance are also catered for on the platform.

EquipmentConnect soft-launched in December 2019 with a pilot group of vendors, keen to benefit from the agile, Point-of-Sale financing solution. With the platform having transacted its first deal almost immediately, more vendors have since been onboarded. The platform has found particularly strong traction in the manufacturing space and has been well-received by advisors such as accountants and business advisors.

Over £30 billion of equipment is financed by SMEs in the UK each year, and globally the equipment finance market is worth north of $1.5 trillion. EquipmentConnect aims to become the dominant marketplace for equipment related financial services.

Eamonn McMahon - CEO

Q and A with Eamonn McMahon, CEO of Equipment Connect

What inspired you to go away and solve the problem you are addressing?

My background is in capital markets, an arena that benefits from great technology and pricing efficiency. After spending some time assisting banks with wholesale asset finance, I was shocked to learn how slow and overly-intermediated SME leasing was. So I decided to apply a capital markets mindset and improve SME leasing with innovative technology to enable new funders to access the market while at the same time digitising a paper process to ensure a faster, more convenient experience for SME directors.

What tips would you give an aspiring entrepreneur?

Stay focused on the core problem you are solving, be proactive at building your network and embrace the uncertainty!

What's the hardest part of being a founder?

It can be difficult to switch off. You are in the driving seat of a sports car that you engineered.

If you weren't building your startup, what would you be doing?

I guess I would be back in my old world, covering hedge funds and other financial institutions for asset-backed finance.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

A sharp knee to the rib cage courtesy of my forever adoring wife. That and the fact I need at strong coffee before the team's daily stand up at 8.45 am.