iSeekplant attracts investment

Australian online rental database iSeekplant has been 25% acquired by Seven Group Holdings, which is also a majority investor in Australian rental company Coates Hire.

iSeekplant said it has almost 3500 equipment suppliers on its platform, and nearly 100000 users per month as well as seven major contractors used its P3 Plant Procurement Platform.

iSeekplant CEO Sally McPherson said Seven Group had made the “multi-million dollar” capital investment in a deal that she said would help online equipment rental reach its full potential.

“It means that iSeekplant will dominate the online plant hire space as it grows and proliferates. We have more marketing resources than ever before to drive traffic to our platform," she said.

“We remain independent of any one business and of Seven, and focused on high quality SMEs with plant and equipment, offering them a digital footprint online where they often don’t have one.

“We continue to believe that the best thing for construction and mining industries is to maintain our highly fragmented supplier market – which is typified by thousands of small operators with great machines and great service.”

Ms McPherson said the iSeekplant platform was designed to ensure contractors and suppliers were able to talk about their requirements and negotiate, providing customers with a chance of winning every job opportunity they gain through the system in a sustainable way, and on profitable terms.

Seven Group CEO Ryan Stokes said iSeekplant was “driving innovation, efficiency and productivity in this important sector, using technology to help improve efficiency and relationships between the various players”.