High-Level Overview
Garage is a Y Combinator–backed B2B marketplace modernizing how fire departments and public agencies buy and sell used emergency vehicles and equipment. The company operates a full-service platform for fire trucks, ambulances, rescue vehicles, and related apparatus, automating traditionally manual processes like appraisal, freight coordination, payments, and financing. Garage serves fire departments, municipalities, fleet managers, and dealers across all 50 U.S. states, enabling them to transact quickly and securely without the administrative burden of traditional classifieds, auctions, or word-of-mouth channels.
Garage solves a critical pain point: the inefficient, fragmented, and often local-only resale market for high-value public safety equipment. By offering nationwide reach, instant freight and warranty quotes, and end-to-end transaction support, Garage accelerates sales cycles and improves pricing for sellers while expanding access to affordable, mission-critical vehicles for buyers. The company has raised $18 million to date, including a $13.5 million Series A led by Infinity Ventures, and is used by cities and departments nationwide, including Burlington, VT, and South Charleston, WV.
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Origin Story
Garage was founded by Martin Hunt and Alaz Sengul, who met while studying at Columbia University. Hunt, a volunteer and later paid firefighter and EMT, experienced firsthand the challenges fire departments face when selling surplus equipment. When his department upgraded apparatus, they relied on Facebook groups, word of mouth, and local networks to offload used trucks and gear—processes that were slow, limited in reach, and logistically complex, especially for cross-country sales.
Recognizing that this problem was widespread—many departments struggle to sell high-cost equipment like fire trucks ($50k–$1M+) beyond their immediate region—Hunt teamed up with Sengul, a software engineer with experience at Twitter and MemAI. Together, they launched Garage as a digital marketplace tailored to public safety and government surplus, starting with fire apparatus. Their personal connection to firefighting gave them deep domain insight, allowing them to design a product that truly fits the operational realities of civil servants, fleet managers, and public works leaders.
Early traction came from fire departments across the U.S. who embraced Garage’s free listings, nationwide reach, and hands-off logistics. The company’s ability to handle freight, payments, and paperwork—while offering financing and warranty options—proved compelling, leading to adoption in all 50 states and a $13.5 million Series A in 2025.
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Core Differentiators
Garage stands out in the used emergency vehicle and government surplus space through a combination of product design, operational depth, and domain focus:
- End-to-End Transaction Automation
Garage automates appraisal (via AI), listing, freight quoting, payments, and logistics, reducing what used to be weeks of coordination to a streamlined digital workflow.
- Nationwide Reach with Local Trust
Unlike local classifieds or regional auctions, Garage connects sellers with thousands of fire departments and agencies across all 50 states, dramatically increasing exposure and competitive bidding.
- Full-Service Logistics & Operations
For vehicle sales, Garage’s in-house operations team manages freight, title transfer, and payment settlement. For smaller equipment, sellers get instant parcel shipping labels upon sale.
- Built for Public Sector Constraints
The platform is tailored to civil servants and fleet managers who lack bandwidth for complex sales processes, offering simple listings, expert support, and transparent pricing with no fees unless a sale closes.
Sellers can choose between “Buy Now” and auction-style listings, with tools to help price vehicles competitively and maximize sale value.
- Integrated Financial Services
Garage offers instant warranty and financing options at checkout, making it easier for departments to close deals without external financing hurdles.
- Firefighter-Owned & Operated
The founders’ background in firefighting and emergency services gives Garage deep credibility and product empathy, helping it earn trust in a relationship-driven, safety-critical market.
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Role in the Broader Tech Landscape
Garage is riding the wave of vertical SaaS and digital marketplaces that are transforming traditionally analog, fragmented B2B industries. It sits at the intersection of several powerful trends:
- Digitization of Government & Public Safety Procurement
Governments are under pressure to modernize procurement, reduce waste, and stretch budgets. Garage helps departments monetize surplus assets efficiently and reinvest in new equipment, aligning with broader public sector digitization efforts.
- Rise of “Marketplace-as-Infrastructure”
Garage doesn’t just list vehicles—it acts as a transaction layer, handling payments, logistics, and risk (via warranties and escrow-like settlement). This model mirrors successful vertical marketplaces in construction, agriculture, and industrial equipment.
- AI and Automation in Asset Management
By using AI for appraisal and freight coordination, Garage reduces friction in high-consideration, high-cost transactions, making it easier for non-technical users (like firefighters and city clerks) to participate in a national market.
- Secondary Markets for Capital-Intensive Equipment
As budgets tighten and new apparatus costs soar ($1.5M–$2.5M per fire truck), the secondary market becomes increasingly strategic. Garage is helping institutionalize and professionalize this market, much like platforms have done for used construction or agricultural machinery.
Garage’s success also signals growing investor appetite for startups that serve public sector and essential services, not just consumer or enterprise SaaS. By starting with fire departments, Garage has built a defensible wedge into a broader opportunity: a unified marketplace for government surplus and specialized equipment across verticals like public works, EMS, and eventually construction and agriculture.
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Quick Take & Future Outlook
Garage is well-positioned to become the dominant digital marketplace for used emergency vehicles and government surplus equipment in the U.S. Its combination of domain expertise, full-stack transaction handling, and strong early adoption across all 50 states gives it a significant first-mover advantage in a niche but high-value market.
Looking ahead, Garage is likely to:
- Expand beyond fire apparatus into adjacent public safety and municipal equipment (EMS, public works, law enforcement, and wildland vehicles).
- Deepen its financial services stack (financing, leasing, insurance) to capture more of the transaction value.
- Leverage its AI-powered appraisal and logistics engine to enter other capital-intensive verticals like construction, agriculture, or industrial equipment.
- Potentially move upstream into fleet management or procurement advisory tools for municipalities.
As governments continue to prioritize fiscal responsibility and operational efficiency, platforms like Garage will play an increasingly critical role in how public agencies manage and monetize their physical assets. By turning surplus into strategic capital, Garage isn’t just modernizing a marketplace—it’s helping communities keep more firefighters on the road, more trucks in service, and more departments equipped to save lives.
