PLANT HIRE STARTUP SCORES $1M CAPITAL

PLANT hire startup iSeekplant plans to ramp up its membership and launch a new website, after raising $1 million from angel investors.

The platform allows construction and mining companies to search for suppliers offering plant equipment for hire.

Launched in 2012, iSeekplant has grown to 70,000 monthly users with Clough, Downer and BDM Constructions among its clients.

Users make 6000 searches daily for specific equipment making it the most used plant hire aggregator website in Australia.

iSeekplant director Drew McPherson says the investment will be used to progress the company's ambitious growth plan, and capitalise on increasing demand in the industry.

"The influx of overseas construction companies, combined with the mining downturn and construction in government spending created the need for more streamlined, transparent plant hire procurement processes," McPherson says.

"Plant hire can represent anywhere from 20 to 50 per cent of a project's budget. Giving project managers direct access to contractors in the area who have the exact equipment they need for a particular job means projects can be priced more efficiently, quickly and accurately."

The site has a database of more than 50,000 machines for hire and facilitates approximately $1 million in plant hire contracts for civil, residential and mining projects each week.

The company plans to double its paying membership base collected this year by launching a new bespoke online offering.

McPherson says the focus will be to educate the market about the need for more transparent plant procurement processes.

"Big businesses are feeling the impact of increased competition on profit margins as project budgets often operate on a knife's edge. A delay of even one day when sourcing equipment can cost a company millions of dollars," he says.

"On the other end of the spectrum, the mining downturn has left many plant hire SMEs with unproductive and unused machines.

"iSeekplant helps them get their earthmoving equipment working to capacity, and introduces them to new customers, new markets and new opportunities."

This is the second capital raise for iSeekplant, which was backed by 3D positioning and survey solutions giant Position Partners in January last year.