BabyQuip is raising capital via preferred equity with a valuation of $18 million. According to the company’s financials, BabyQuip generated revenue of $490,900 in 2020, which yields a revenue-to-valuation multiple of 36.6x. This makes it overvalued. However, according to the founder, the company’s 2021 revenue was around $1.8 million. If that’s the case, then the revenue-to-valuation multiple would be 10x. Although 10x is still above the average 1x to 2x multiple of online marketplace companies, it is overall favorable to investors. It’s also important to note that although  BabyQuip’s revenue increased in 2021, the company’s revenue decreased by 46% in 2020. It is not certain whether revenue will continue to increase, especially with the uncertainty of the pandemic. But overall, when compared to other startups raising capital online, BabyQuip has a good valuation and revenue multiple.

BabyQuip operates in the baby gear and equipment rental market. The US equipment rental market was estimated to be valued at $51.7 billion in 2021 with a somewhat slow annual growth rate of 5.4%. The equipment rental market is broad and includes different niche industries. BabyQuip focuses on the US baby products market, which was estimated to be $1.7 billion in 2021. The market growth is driven by incentive to rent gear to both save money and be sustainable (instead of buying brand-new equipment). While the market has potential to grow as more people work remotely and adopt a digital nomad lifestyle, the market is small and growing slowly. Overall, BabyQuip has limited room for growth in a niche market. But investors should keep in mind that the company’s high-quality service and strong founding team could still make it a dominant force in the market.

BabyQuip was founded in 2016 by CEO Fran Maier. Prior to BabyQuip, Maier founded and led several companies. She has managed to raise more than $100 million in funding throughout her career. Her most notable prior venture was Match.com, a dating site she co-founded in 1994, built up to more than 500,000 members, and achieved $3 million in revenue in three years. The company was later sold to Interactive Corp. after sales transitioned to Cendant Corporation. She later founded and served as president and CEO of TrustArc, an end-to-end privacy management platform. Maier has also held several positions in marketing. Her extensive entrepreneurial experience and prior exit prove her credentials as an established serial entrepreneur and strong leader. Research shows that founders with a prior exit have a higher chance of achieving another exit than founders with no exit experience. So Maier’s experience is highly valuable to BabyQuip — and gives investors a better chance at high returns.

Other team members include Chief Technology Officer Joe Maier, Director of Lead Generation and Community Nicole Kitzman, and Director of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Wold. Kitzman previously owned a similar baby gear rental business called Capital Baby Rentals, so her experience makes her an undeniable asset to the company. All of these positions add value to the company and help with product development and scalability. Overall, BabyQuip has a strong team with diverse skills.

BabyQuip provides a high-quality service where quality providers (QPs) — contractors who rent their baby equipment — make sure items are clean and delivered on time. BabyQuip also provides rental discounts. Customers can receive anywhere from 10% to 30% off when they rent equipment for nine days or more. BabyQuip keeps 20% of the revenue QPs make, while other services such as rents4baby keep 25%. Although BabyQuip might make less revenue, it has the potential to attract more contractors, which could make it more profitable in the long run. 

But the online rental marketplace is not very defensible. There are several other competitors in the market who are also high quality and offer a wide selection of products, including Babonbo, rents4baby, Babies Getaway, and Baby’s Away. One of the downsides of BabyQuip is that customers have to rent gear for three days minimum. Babies Getaway, on the other hand, has no minimum rental period, so families on a two-day trip might opt to use Babies Getaway or buy essentials instead of using BabyQuip’s rental service. BabyQuip also has a $200 startup fee for QPs, which could deter some people from signing up.

Overall, BabyQuip has only minor advantages over its competition. The baby equipment rental market is not a winner-take-all market, so it still has potential to perform well. But in a highly competitive online marketplace, it doesn’t offer highly unique services.

According to BabyQuip’s financials, its revenue decreased by 46% from $903,800 in 2019 to $490,900 in 2020. This was due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as people traveled less and were less willing to rent gear used by other customers. But according to the founder, revenue tripled from 2020 to 2021. That would make 2021 revenue around $1.8 million. This shows the company was able to recover and attract customers again. The company’s monthly burn rates — $88,000 in 2019 and $122,000 in 2020 — are high considering the company does not sell physical products and does not need to spend a lot on research and development like other industries, such as hardware technology or pharmaceuticals. But BabyQuip has a healthy gross margin level of 86%, which means the company is not losing a lot of money against the cost of the service. The company has also succeeded in raising $4.5 million in the past. This indicates the company has a reliable ability to raise capital and shows it is unlikely to struggle with debt in the long run.

BabyQuip has also shown good non-financial traction. The company has 800 QPs and has served about 70,000 customers, which demonstrates its ability to balance supply and demand. Its customers spend an average of $190. It has a decent social media presence with thousands of followers on Instagram and Twitter. The company has also been featured on “Shark Tank,” which helps raise awareness and gives it additional popularity. On Facebook, BabyQuip has a high review average of 4.5 out of 5 stars. The QPs also have very high ratings on BabyQuip’s website, which is an indication the service is reliable and customers are highly satisfied. By comparison, competitor Babies Gateway has a 3.3 star rating on Yelp. 

The company also has several partnerships with companies such as AvantStay, a vacation rental company. Other vacation rental companies and hotels are also interested in using BabyQuip’s service to provide baby equipment for their guests. In 2021, BabyQuip’s merchandise value of all gear rented on its platform was $6 million. All this shows that the company has been making progress and recovering well from its pandemic-related setbacks. 

Investing in BabyQuip comes with a low risk profile. Risk mostly comes from the financial side, where the company has a high monthly burn rate. An online marketplace company like BabyQuip doesn’t typically need to spend a lot of capital on hardware or research, so a monthly burn rate of $88,000 to $122,000 is high. A high monthly burn rate could indicate good product development, but it could also mean the company might not be prepared for unexpected changes or losses. The company’s cash runway is 4.5 months, which means it can survive for only 4.5 months without generating any income. Unless BabyQuip can lower its costs or increase its revenue, it could risk bankruptcy.

BabyQuip’s revenue decreased by 46% from 2019 to 2020 due to the pandemic. Although it recovered in 2021, COVID-19 makes the future of travel uncertain. This might reduce parents’ need for BabyQuip’s equipment rental service, and customers might even hesitate to rent baby gear from other people to ensure their safety and the safety of their children. The supply of quality providers (QPs) and demand of parents needs to be balanced for the company to operate. If parents no longer need BabyQuip, then QPs might drop out or switch to a competing service. If demand then rises again, there might not be enough existing QPs on BabyQuip’s marketplace to meet demand. Additionally, the baby products rental market is niche, small, and highly competitive, which could affect how much of the market BabyQuip can capture.

BabyQuip has been able to recover from a dip in revenue in 2020 due to the pandemic and more than double its revenue in 2021 (according to founder Fran Maier). Although the company is focusing on a niche market for now, its concept could be applied to other markets, such as renting yoga items, toys, pet supplies and more. The company also plans to expand to Mexico and the Caribbean, which would help it capture a bigger market and generate more revenue. 

One of BabyQuip’s biggest strengths is its team. Maier has a proven track record of entrepreneurship, including experience leading a company to an exit. This is a strong signal that she may lead BabyQuip to a successful exit as well. Her ability to raise funds also suggests the company can likely secure more capital in the future.

Although BabyQuip’s main disadvantage is its numerous high-quality competitors, the rental equipment market is not a winner-take-all market. Even if BabyQuip is not highly differentiated from other platforms, that does not mean it cannot succeed. For example, both Uber and Lyft provide similar services, and both became leaders in the ride sharing market and succeeded in going public.

Lastly, even if the number of traveling parents decreases due to the pandemic, BabyQuip can still attract customers who think buying baby gear for a short time is a waste of money and harmful to the environment. It could also appeal to those who want to try an item before committing to buying it.

BabyQuip is an online rental marketplace for baby products. It currently operates in the US and Canada. The company has served 70,000 parents who prefer to rent baby gear when traveling rather than bring their own strollers, car seats, cribs or other gear. The company’s $18 million valuation is overvalued when compared to the online marketplace industry, but fair when compared to other startups raising capital online. The company’s revenue decreased by 46% in 2020, and it is uncertain whether the travel industry is going to fully recover anytime soon. BabyQuip also has a high monthly burn rate and several high-quality competitors. 

But overall, BabyQuip is a promising opportunity for investors. After a dip in revenue from the pandemic, the company recovered quickly in 2021 and was able to more than double its revenue. And even when its revenue declined in 2020, BabyQuip maintained a high margin of 86%, indicating its ability to manage its finances well. The company is also expanding to other regions around the world, which gives it the opportunity to capture more of the baby gear rental market. There are also a lot of other niche markets BabyQuip can serve, so it has opportunities to expand. The company has many positive reviews from its customers. And the company has proven itself to be a reliable service for parents and a good business venture for baby gear providers. Finally, the BabyQuip founder and CEO has a very strong track record. She has founded two companies and made one exit, which increases BabyQuip’s chance of a successful exit. For those reasons, BabyQuip has been rated a Deal To Watch by the KingsCrowd investment team.

For questions regarding the KingsCrowd analyst report for this company, please reach out to support@kingscrowd.com.

Analysis written by Yasmin Sharbaf on January 14, 2022.