Caterpillar Invests in an Airbnb for Excavators
By James R. Hagerty
May 8, 2015 11:30 AM ET
Originally published on WSJ.com.
Caterpillar Inc. said it had invested in Yard Club Inc., a San Francisco startup that helps owners of heavy equipment rent idle machines to one another, much as Airbnb Inc. helps people find vacant homes or apartments for short stays.
A spokeswoman for Caterpillar, which makes construction and mining equipment, said the company had provided a bridge loan that could be converted to equity in the future. Colin Evran, Yard Club’s 31-year-old chief executive who founded the startup in 2013, declined to provide details of the financing but called it “pretty substantial.” Yard Club already had attracted $1.6 million of venture capital in late 2013, he said.
