Rheaply, a Chicago startup that specializes in recycling and sourcing unused items, has landed a contract with the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency to help government entities, like the Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force, streamline the redeployment of military property.
The partnership came about through Rheaply receiving a Small Business Innovation Research Phase II contract from AFWERX, a community of Air Force innovators who connect Airmen to solutions.
Rheaply, which describes itself as a resource-sharing network, helps organizations recycle and source items in a number of industries, including higher education, healthcare, technology, government and retail. The startup was founded in 2015 by CEO Garry Cooper.
Through the partnership with the DLA, Rheaply will study the government agency’s disposition processes and provide improvement suggestions using its software.
The DLA exists to gather unused military equipment, refurbish it and redeploy it to a department or person who needs it. Each year, the DLA processes approximately $50B of surplus property, which can range from hardware and fitness equipment, to weapons and vehicles.
“Imagine anything that could be on the base,” Cooper said. “It’s a wide scope.”
The DLA has been using an antiquated platform to redeploy equipment throughout its agencies, but by working with Rheaply, it can implement more efficient and high-tech strategies, Cooper said.
"We are working with the DLA to build out a better system so the government as a whole can realize more value and waste less of property that's in excess," Cooper said.
With the new partnership, Rheaply now has more than 30 clients using its software. Rheaply, a Techstars alum, helps its clients sell, rent and donate items they no longer need, like office furniture, lab equipment and tech devices, and when a monetary transaction takes place, Rheaply takes a small fee.
“Every organization has to be thinking about how do they spend less money, waste less and make their supply chains much more resilient,” Cooper said.
Cooper started the foundation for Rheaply while completing a PhD in neuroscience at Northwestern University by developing a system for university labs to swap and sell unused lab equipment to each other.
Earlier this year, Rheaply raised $2.5 million in a seed round led by Chicago-based Hyde Park Angels and inked a partnership with Northwestern University to help the college source coronavirus supplies. In June, the National Institutes of Health and National Eye Institute awarded Rheaply a contract to improve the management of scientific assets within the NEI Division of Intramural Research.
And in May, Rheaply teamed up with the City of Chicago to help source personal protective equipment (PPE) for local nonprofits and businesses. That partnership has since expanded and now also includes helping the city’s Black-owned small businesses get access to resources they need through the pandemic.
Rheaply was also recently accepted into the SAP.iO Foundry New York virtual accelerator program. The program includes six early-stage enterprise startups led by women and/or diverse entrepreneurs that are developing products and services relevant to the retail, manufacturing or automotive industries.
