Joymode, the US-based consumer goods rental service backed by media and e-commerce group Naspers, has been acquired by retail and consumer-focused innovation accelerator XRC Labs for an undisclosed sum, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday.
Founded in 2015, Joymode runs an online platform where consumers can rent a wide variety of goods to avoid paying the full price in a single expenditure. Products available through the portal include computer games, karaoke machines and deep cleaning materials.
Joymode’s founding CEO Joe Fernandez told TechCrunch it was unable to successfully scale its technology or bring costs down to a level that would have enabled the company to grow sufficiently fast.
The company will now operate as a wholly-owned XRC Labs subsidiary but could potentially seek funding from private markets in future, according to Fernandez. Its service will be reduced to comprise back-end inventory management as part of a goods rental facility for retailers.
Naspers led a $14.4m series A round for Joymode in early 2018 through corporate venturing unit Naspers Ventures, while undisclosed existing investors also took part.
This followed a $3m seed round in 2016 led by Homebrew and backed by Lowercase Capital, Founders Collective, Collaborative Fund, TenOneTen Ventures, Slow Ventures, Sherpa Ventures and angel investors Scott Belsky and Emil Michael.