LeaseFetcher – a startup aiming to revolutionise the way individuals and businesses research, negotiate and buy vehicle leases – founded by University of Strathclyde graduate Will Craig in 2017 launches to the public today.
Its story started two years ago when Craig was attempting to lease a car for his business. He found you could compare hundreds of utility packages, broadband deals and phone contracts but struggled to adequately research cars, leases and brokers on the leasing marketplaces that already existed.
Craig began thinking about how he could use technology to improve his research and help him make smarter buying decisions. The result was LeaseFetcher.
LeaseFetcher works by automatically collecting millions of leasing prices from leading UK leasing brokers. Then it allows consumers to search, filter and compare prices on the platform.
By bringing millions of potential deals into one place, consumers can compare what the market has to offer without having to contact dozens of different sales departments individually. This improves each consumer’s research and leads to better, more informed buying decisions.
LeaseFetcher puts control in users’ hands, allowing them to search and compare cars (make, model, size, body style, doors, seats, fuel, economy, rating, etc), leasing terms (initial rental, monthly cost, length, total cost, etc.) and broker (location, rating, etc.).
Booming industry
LeaseFetcher is the latest addition to a booming vehicle leasing industry.
Last year (H1 2017), there were a total of 287,683 vehicles on contract in the UK, an increase of 10% from end 2016. As more personal consumers move from buying to leasing, this figure is expected to rise.
Support from Scottish Enterprise
Throughout its development, LeaseFetcher has enjoyed support from Scotland’s economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise, and received a grant to help bring an MVP to market in 2017.
“We were lucky enough to receive a grant from Scottish Enterprise in August 2017,” says Craig. “This allowed us to accelerate development and produce a minimum viable product in around half the time it would otherwise have taken.
“I’m tremendously excited to bring LeaseFetcher to market and can’t wait to see how real motorists use it.”
About Lease Fetcher
LeaseFetcher is an automotive/fintech startup based in Glasgow. It automatically collects millions of prices from leading leasing brokers and allows users to search, filter and compare prices to find the offer that’s best for them.