Lens rentals, an online photo, video, audio and lighting equipment rental titan, has announced the acquisition of BorrowLenses, a key competitor in the photo and video equipment rental space, TechCrunch has learned exclusively. It is a competitive space in a commodity market, where no one brand has an obvious advantage over the other. Neither company is willing to comment on the terms of the deal, but a source familiar with the deal suggests it is likely to be an all-cash acquisition.
BorrowLenses, in turn, has had an interesting journey. The company was acquired by Shutterfly about a decade ago. Shutterfly was public at the time, but has been since obtained by Apollo — yes, the same Apollo that bought Yahoo, which owns TechCrunch — in 2021.
Founded in 2006, Lensrentals has over the years surpassed BorrowLenses, both in terms of staff and total number of customers. Operating out of their headquarters in Tennessee, Lensrentals has cultivated a reputation for being a good place to work (the company is largely employee-owned) and it takes good care of its customers.
Tyler Beckman, CEO of Lensrentals, tells TechCrunch that his company views BorrowLenses as “friendly rivals” who “push each other to excel” and that the company sees the acquisition as an opportunity to lean on the benefits of the operation on a larger scale.
“When you put ownership in the hands of employees, good things happen for customers. We look forward to all BorrowLenses customers seeing what I mean by that,” says Beckman.
It’s not yet clear what the acquisition means for job security for BorrowLenses staff, nor for the San Carlos location itself. A source familiar with the deal says the acquisition is happening very quickly and that the Lensrentals team is evaluating the viability of retaining employees and the location as the process progresses.
BorrowLenses has a broad selection of gear — a company source says its assets are to be integrated into Lensrentals’ existing inventory of more than 400,000 rental items across more than 6,000 different lenses, cameras, drones, lighting, audio and studio gear — which allowed it to compete with local camera rental operations. Fast nationwide shipping and full insurance gave the company an advantage over camera rental shops that often malfunctioned.
The company also introduced the Lensrentals Keeper program, which, under the informal slogan “if you like it, keep it,” allows customers to buy equipment they’ve rented at a discounted price. Photographers have embraced the program as a low-risk way to buy used gear: Take a few shots with the lens, and if it works well, they buy it at a deep discount. It’s not impossible for the start-up to start liquidating surplus equipment, so it might be time to keep an eye out for good deals.
Similar to Lensrentals, BorrowLenses has an extensive inventory. The main difference between the companies is their geographic footprints. BorrowLenses has established a strong presence in certain regions, complementing the national reach of Lensrentals. This local approach—for some reason it’s more reassuring if a lens is shipped a few hundred miles than thousands of miles across the country—has allowed BorrowLenses to cultivate close relationships with its customer base.
Over the years, BorrowLenses has also placed a strong emphasis on educational content, offering tips, tutorials and guides designed to help customers get the most out of their rental experience. This focus on education and support has not only improved the customer experience, but has also positioned BorrowLenses as a thought leader in the creative industry, committed to empowering photographers and videographers of all skill levels.
In many ways, the acquisition represents an obvious one: Two companies so similar that it’s hard to keep them apart are helping to bolster each other with small, incremental improvements in local presence and training initiatives.
Of course, Beckman told TechCrunch that Lensrentals has been held back by competition from BorrowLenses. In theory, the customer wins when a single, monolithic company can reap the benefits of operating at a larger scale. In practice, it remains to be seen whether prices will remain the same and the larger company will be able to maintain its personal reputation when this element of friendly rivalry is removed.
