For Jessica Abebe-Yohannes, the idea for Gear Loop did not begin in a boardroom or a tech incubator.
Like many parents raising young children, the Mars resident found herself constantly searching for items she only needed temporarily — carpet cleaners, tools, equipment and other expensive household gear that often sits unused after a single project.
“I kept running into an issue where I was looking for things that I wanted to rent,” Abebe-Yohannes said during a recent interview. “I didn’t want to buy and keep building clutter, especially with three little kids.”
That frustration eventually became the foundation for Gear Loop, a new peer-to-peer gear-sharing platform that allows users to rent equipment and household items directly from one another rather than purchasing them outright.
The concept is simple.
People list equipment they already own while others nearby can rent the items for short-term use through the platform. Transactions are handled electronically through the app and website while identity verification, payment processing and equipment protection are built into the system.
“It’s a person-to-person gear-sharing platform where people list the gear they have while they’re not using it,” Abebe-Yohannes explained. “People who need it can rent it from them and give them cash.”
The platform officially launched only four weeks ago, but early interest has exceeded expectations.
According to Abebe-Yohannes, Gear Loop already has approximately 120 users and more than $36,000 worth of listed equipment available for rent throughout the Pittsburgh region.
Many of the items are things homeowners, contractors or families may only need occasionally but hesitate to purchase due to cost.
“With kids, they’re very expensive,” Abebe-Yohannes said. “I was thinking about other stay-at-home moms who are trying to make extra money and have that fulfilling aspect of their lives and also save money.”
The startup is currently focused on Pittsburgh and surrounding communities, including Mars, Seven Fields and Cranberry Township, where many of the early users are located.
Abebe-Yohannes said the idea evolved from both her business background and her experience managing Airbnb properties.
After earning both her undergraduate degree and MBA from the University of Florida and working in finance and real estate, she began to see similarities between short-term home rentals and the growing “sharing economy” model that has expanded across industries over the last decade.
“We should be sharing more and consuming less,” she said.
That philosophy has become one of the driving forces behind Gear Loop’s mission.
The platform also allows users to customize transactions by offering delivery, pickup, setup assistance or additional services depending on the item being rented.
Safety and trust, she said, were also major priorities while developing the platform. Every renter must complete identity verification before making reservations, including ID verification and selfie matching. Transactions are securely processed through Stripe, and qualified rentals are covered through Gear Loop’s equipment protection program. Users can also customize rentals by offering pickup, delivery or assembly services depending on the item being rented.
Despite the platform’s early momentum, Abebe-Yohannes acknowledged building a startup while raising a family has not been easy.
“We started planning it actually three years ago, but I was pregnant with my daughter,” she said. “So we put a big halt on that until she got into daycare.”
Still, she believes the effort is about more than building a business.
“I believe in God and Jesus Christ,” Abebe-Yohannes said. “For me, this is very much a way to leave a legacy and a model for my kids for how to live their lives.”
As Gear Loop continues to grow, the company plans to expand city by city while continuing to build its local user base first.
The platform is currently available through both Apple and Android mobile devices as the company continues expanding its local user base. In a fitting example of the platform’s concept, the company recently secured a vendor tent for Mars Alien Fest through a gear-sharing request on the app itself.
For now, Abebe-Yohannes hopes the platform encourages people to think differently about ownership, community and the items sitting unused in garages, basements and sheds across the region.
“The more meaningful version,” she said, “is a way for us to share more, consume less, and interact more personally with one another.”
Residents interested in learning more about Gear Loop or creating an account can visit, https://www.gearloop.com/signup
