Topi raised $45M to put hardware rental into B2B merchants' checkout, starting with Gravis

Berlin startup whose APIs let merchants offer B2B hardware as a service, with credit checks, billing, insurance, logistics and refinancing built in.

Merchants will embed hardware rental and subscription as a checkout option, a 'Klarna for B2B', rather than selling only outright.

$4.5M at launch in December 2021, then $45M in August 2022 ($15M equity and $30M debt).

Topi came out of stealth in December 2021 with $4.5M, founded by Charlotte Pallua, who explored hardware subscriptions at Apple, and Estelle Merle, who met her at Harvard Business School and had worked at Tesla and Via.

Topi piloted with Gravis, an Apple-authorised reseller with 40 stores in Germany. In the pilot, Gravis said about half of customers who rented hardware through Topi came back for additional products.

On 30 August 2022 Topi announced its first product with Gravis and a $45M raise of equity and debt. A white-label version and Klarna-style installment-to-own options were planned.

Businesses spend thousands upfront on equipment that can be outdated within a few years, leaving less capital for other needs.

Merchants facing economic pressure on customers' budgets need new ways to encourage spending.

Consumer markets have moved from ownership to access, and Topi argued B2B buyers would follow.

Embedding rentals at checkout, with insurance and refinancing already in the stack, turns a financing product into a retention tool: Gravis saw half of renters return.

As of 30 August 2022, Topi's first merchant product was live with Gravis, a white-label version was planned, and installment payments for customers who want to own the product at the end were to follow.