Martin Hunt has been a firefighter since the age of fifteen. Now twenty-six, he understood from personal experience the financial strain small communities with tight budgets face when purchasing essential fire equipment. In 2023, a conversation with a fellow firefighter who asked if Hunt knew of a better way to buy and sell gear sparked an idea. When Hunt could not find an adequate solution, he recognized a clear need for a streamlined, nationwide marketplace for expensive and hard-to-move equipment like fire trucks. He left his job just a few months later with no product and no funding to build that solution.
Hunt teamed up with his college friend Alaz Sengul to launch Garage, a marketplace dedicated to selling specialized equipment commonly used by local governments and public safety agencies. The platform automates most of the traditionally manual processes, including appraisal, freight quotes, and payment solutions. Hunt, the company’s CEO, explained that many of their customers are civil servants, firefighters, fleet managers, and public works directors who lack the administrative bandwidth to deal with endless paperwork and complex logistical coordination. Sengul serves as the company’s CTO.
The company recently announced a $13.5 million Series A funding round led by Infinity Ventures. Hunt described the current market, where fire departments often depend on online auction sites like GovDeals, Facebook groups, or even classified newspaper ads to find previously owned equipment. Simultaneously, cities looking to sell their old gear to raise funds for new supplies face significant challenges. Selling a large item like a fire truck to a buyer thousands of miles away often proves too difficult logistically.
Garage’s nationwide platform operates by having sellers use an AI tool to appraise their equipment. The product is then listed in either an auction or a “buy now” format. Prospective buyers can message the seller to request instant quotes for additional services like warranty and freight. Once an agreement is reached, Garage handles the entire backend process and uses AI to help coordinate the delivery. Hunt emphasized the importance of security for these large transactions, which often exceed one hundred thousand dollars, noting the prevalence of scammers on other platforms.
Hunt described the fundraising process as catalytic. He and Sengul met their lead investors after participating in Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 cohort. The founders first raised a $4.5 million seed round from Initialized Capital, which later introduced them to Infinity Ventures. Other participants in the round include Benchstrength, Wayfinder Ventures, and FJ Labs. To date, the company has raised $18 million in total.
The new capital will be used to expand the team and grow the marketplace. Hunt stated that the product is currently used in all fifty states, with clients including cities like Burlington, Vermont, and South Charleston, West Virginia. He expressed hope that improving access to affordable, mission-critical equipment will enhance public safety in the areas that need it most, allowing funds to go further and stay within the communities they serve.