Peer-to-peer item-rental concept MyRent solves protection pain point

Singapore peer-to-peer on-demand item-rental marketplaces MyRent is increasing its Lender Protection Guarantee limit, with renters being covered five times more if items are mishandled or stolen.

In doing so, the company has addressed a major pain point for would-be customers of the service: ensuring protection of the items they are renting out on the platform.

The enhanced Lender Protection Guarantee will be rolled out from the end of this year until the first financial quarter next year. It means that MyRent users will be covered up to SG$5000 (US$3679) for Singapore residents, and up to $1000 ($736) for foreigners.

“Our goal is to build an on-demand rental platform for people to monetise their possessions, and connect to the on-demand economy,” said MyRent CEO and co-founder Ishwar Dhanuka (pictured) . “The GoPro you need for vacation is sitting idle on someone’s desk.”

MyRent makes available a vast array of goods for short-term use including drones, GoPros, camera equipment, iPhones, iWatches, game consoles, handbags, winter jackets (which have no use in Singapore), sports equipment and even books. 

Dhanuka founded MyRent to address a shift in consumer behaviour, with an increasing number of people opting to rent items and engage in a sharing economy – rather than purchasing products for their own use.

Since its official launch in May, MyRent has aggregated almost 1500 active listings on its site, and its app has been downloaded some 15,000 times. 

While it continues to develop the platform, MyRent is also looking to expand into more markets, with Malaysia and Taiwan launches in the pipeline for next year. 

The company is also exploring merchant partnerships to help traditional brick-and-mortar stores rent out unused inventory; ecosystem partnerships (for the insurance and logistics sector); and evaluating offering delivery.

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