Updated: Ripple-Backed Omni Rentals to Shut Down by Late 2019

Updated 20:00 UTC, Nov. 26: This article has been updated to include comments from Omni Rentals that Cointelegraph received after initial publication.

Omni Rentals, a $35 million-funded storage and rental startup backed by major crypto firm Ripple, is reportedly shutting down its operations. As Omni is expecting to close its platform by the end of 2019, about 10 of Omni’s engineers will be hired by major American crypto exchange and wallet service Coinbase, tech-focused publication TechCrunch reports Nov. 25.

Omni had not made an official closure announcement at press time, but a representative from Omni did confirm the closure in an email to Cointelegraph: 

"We’ll be winding down operations at Omni and closing the platform by the end of this year. We are proud of what we built and incredibly thankful for everyone who supported our vision over the past five and a half years."

Other anonymous sources close to Omni reported to TechCrunch that the service was good for customers, but scaling it would have been difficult and expensive. 

As Cointelegraph reported, Coinbase previously discussed the opportunity of hiring Omni’s engineering team in early October 2019. Omni’s business was purportedly doing poorly at the time, as the platform was experiencing difficulties finding customers. 

In a move to solve the situation, the startup reportedly planned to launch a white-label service allowing merchants to operate and market their own rental businesses.

A Coinbase representative told TechCrunch that the firm reached an agreement with Omni to hire members of its engineering team, but did not specify what the new team will be working on at the exchange. 

Launched in 2015, Omni reportedly received $25 million from Ripple in early 2018 for its white-label service project. It remains unclear if the company plans to give the raised funds back to its investors.

Meanwhile, Ripple has recently conducted another major investment. On Nov. 25, Ripple made a final $20 million equity investment in money transmission network MoneyGram as part of its original $50 million equity investment commitment. 25, Ripple made a final $20 million equity investment in money transmission network MoneyGram as part of its original $50 million equity investment commitment.