The heavy equipment market is in new hands in Canada, but its future remains unclear.
After spending over a decade building and scaling an online heavy equipment rental marketplace with $60 million in total funding, the Kitchener-Waterloo construction technology company DozrThe company's assets were unceremoniously sold off last month to help the beleaguered creditor recoup some of its capital.
The process began in late September when RBC's senior secured creditor petitioned the Ontario Superior Court to place Dozr into receivership after the company defaulted on a nearly C$3.4 million line of credit provided by the bank. documents state. A report from the court-appointed receiver KPMG shows that the request comes amid “serious liquidity problems” at Dozr.
KPMG took control of Dozr in early October, and late last month KPMG sold Dozr's assets to a newly formed Canadian company called 17416512 Canada Ltd.
Dozr was once valued at C$75 million, with total funding exceeding C$60 million.
A federal corporation search shows 17416512 Canada Ltd. was founded in October and is based in Toronto. It is led by CEO Andrew Ladouceur, former chief operating officer of an embedded commercial technology startup in Toronto. Bonsaiwith Bonsai co-founder and former CEO Saad Siddiqui as a major shareholder.
Ladouceur and Siddiqui are also co-founders of Inspiration Commerce Group, which says it “builds and acquires a global network of engaging platforms that help users discover and buy the products they love.” Private Equity Style E-Commerce Company shared last year that the company is on track to achieve profitability and plans to acquire at least four businesses in 2025.
In preparation for this sale, the remaining Dozr staff, which at the time of KPMG's first appointment included 20 employees and 24 contractors, were terminated, although 17416512 Canada Ltd. is interested in reopening Dozr and rehiring former employees to support those plans, court documents show.
It remains unclear what brought Dozra to this point and what the acquisition means for the company's future. BetaKit reached out to former Dozr executives, employees and investors for comment on what went wrong with the startup and reached out to new owner 17416512 Canada Ltd. to gain clarity on Dozr's current status and its long-term plans for the company's market. At the time of publication, Dozra's website was still live.
Another trade and a “disappointing” result
Speaking to BetaKit on condition of confidentiality, a source familiar with Dozr's operations said that before the company was forced into receivership, Dozr was close to profitability and had a signed letter of intent to merge with another company – a larger, undisclosed US competitor – in a better deal.
The source claimed that Dozr tried to conclude an agreement with RBC to avoid bankruptcy proceedings, but the bank did not want to work with the company.
RBC said it declined to respond to BetaKit's request for comment.
Although court documents do not disclose the price that 17416512 Canada Ltd. ultimately paid to purchase Dozr's assets, based on the available information and the circumstances of the transaction (including the fact that RBC expected to incur losses on its secured advances), it is unlikely that Dozr's co-founders, employees or investors received much financial benefit from the distressed sale.
A spokesman for Dozr investor BDC Capital described the construction equipment rental market as “inherently complex and fragmented” and acknowledged to BetaKit that “these dynamics present challenges for market models like Dozr's.”
“While the outcome was disappointing to the company's management, team, customers and investors, we are pleased that Dozr continues to operate under Canadian ownership,” a BDC spokesperson said. The company representative did not disclose the financial terms of the sale.
Dozr connects contractors with third party rental companies throughout Canada and the United States. The company said it offers the largest online marketplace for heavy equipment rentals, helping hundreds of thousands of contractors find the equipment they need from more than 4,000 suppliers across North America.
Dozr, once valued at C$75 million, created this marketplace and developed white-label software to help rental companies integrate e-commerce capabilities with total funding of over C$60 million.
CONNECTED: Dozr raises $27.5 million in Series B funding to support US expansion
The family-owned startup, led by people with backgrounds in construction and technology, was launched by husband and wife team Kevin Forestell as CEO turned chairman and Erin Stevenson as chief marketing officer, and Kevin's brother Tim Forestell as chief revenue officer and chief commercial officer. The trio, which appears to have stayed with Dozr until the end, was joined by Adil Zaman as co-founder and CTO from 2017 to 2023.
Dozr soars high in February 2022 after shutting down $27.5 million CAD Series B from Builders VC, BDC Capital's Growth Venture Fund and BaseCamp Equity Partners, which included “certain minor” funds to fuel US expansion. The round comes as Dozr sees “tremendous growth” amid a pandemic-fueled surge in construction activity, as well as supply chain disruptions and production delays that have made it difficult to access heavy equipment.
Dozr had about 65 employees at the time, and the company planned to double its workforce to 130 by the end of that year. In July of the same year, Dozr received a loan from RBC for general corporate purposes. Court documents indicate that the loan was secured by Dozra's intellectual property (IP) and proceeds from it.
Recession leads to layoffs and cooling of investment
Following the COVID-19 construction boom, conditions have worsened in both the technology market and the broader economy. High interest rates, tariffs and economic uncertainty are putting a damper on construction and equipment activity. sales And rental demand slowed down.
During the recession, Dozr changed its staffing plans. Waterloo record reported that Dozr laid off 20 percent of its workforce in February 2023. LinkedIn: AnalyticsThe company had 82 employees as of April 2023, a number that fell to 63 by May 2025, indicating further cuts.
CONNECTED: Dozr Founding CEO Kevin Forestell moves to Chairman and Dave Fraser becomes President
How BetaKit reported In May, he said, by mutual decision between him and the firm's board, Dozr's founding CEO Kevin Forestell moved to the chairman position, and the company named Dave Fraser president in his place.
Kevin Forestell confirmed at the time that Dozr had received C$16 million in additional capital from existing backers following its Series B round and had cut staff to streamline its operations and scale the business more efficiently, but he did not share exact numbers. The chairman of Dozra said that the company has invested in automation, but continues to grow.
Court documents have since revealed that between January and August 31 this year, KPMG determined that Dozr's US business brought in about $12.4 million ($17.5 million Canadian), while its parent company in Canada brought in $1.6 million Canadian. That figure would put the company ahead of the C$12.5 million to C$13 million net sales the company had announced for 2024, according to the source.
The source told BetaKit that as market conditions have changed, Dozr has cut staff to accelerate its path to profitability amid increased difficulties raising external capital, noting that Dozr became profitable before earnings, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) just months before entering receivership.
RBC insists on selling assets
KPMG found that Dozr was facing a cash flow crunch and that the company had spent the last 12 months trying to raise additional funding or find a strategic buyer in the equipment rental and technology sectors.
Dozr and its investors were unable to convince RBC or the court to restructure the loan.
The manager said Dozr spoke to seven potential new investors and more than 60 potential buyers, but was ultimately unable to complete the deal because the potential backers were concerned about Dozr's outstanding debt to RBC and trade payables and wanted them satisfied or repaid before the deal closed.
Despite lengthy efforts, Dozr and its investors were unable to convince RBC or the court to restructure the loan or give the company more time. Among the reasons why RBC asked to appoint a manager, it cited the risk of deterioration in its security and loss of confidence in the management of Dozra. The court upheld the claim and appointed KMPG, which began an expedited sale process to mitigate further damages.
17416512 Canada Ltd. agreed to buy Dozr's assets, including its contracts, accounts receivable (totaling nearly $5 million), intellectual property and personal property, but not its cash or equity interests. The deal was closed on October 31 after court approval.
Image courtesy of Dozr.
