Backing Garage: Transforming How America’s Critical Equipment Is Bought and Sold
Why Initialized led Garage’s seed round and participated in its Series A for $18M total funding
America’s local governments and public safety departments are the backbone of our communities, yet the way they buy and sell the most essential equipment needed for doing their jobs hasn’t changed in decades. Whether it’s a used fire engine or surplus emergency response gear, these transactions often happen offline, through outdated regional auctions or informal Facebook groups. It’s an inefficient, fragmented system that slows operations, limits budgets, and wastes valuable time and money.
BUILDING THE MODERN MARKETPLACE
Garage is a modern, AI-powered marketplace designed to streamline how specialized equipment is bought and sold. When we first met co-founders Martin Hunt and Alaz Sengul, we immediately saw how deeply personal this mission is to them, and how well-equipped they are to fix this broken system. Martin’s firsthand experience as a volunteer firefighter — logging over 1,500 hours of training by age 18 — gave him a firsthand view of just how archaic these workflows are. Their vision goes beyond making equipment transactions easier, it provides a means for America’s first responders and civil servants to access the tools they need to do their jobs well.
The first thing that surprised us in diligence was how little innovation has touched this space, despite how critical and expensive these assets are. The U.S. has more than 27,000 fire departments, and most operate under tight budget constraints. A new or used fire truck can cost anywhere from $500K to $1M, and buying or selling one can take weeks of coordination, back-and-forth messages, and fragmented logistics. The absence of a central platform isn’t just inefficient, it’s a missed opportunity to recapture budget and reinvest in communities.
Garage is filling that gap. The platform handles the full lifecycle of the sale: AI-based appraisals, integrated payments, freight quotes, and national reach for the equipment listed. They’re already being used by hundreds of fire departments across all 50 states, impacting the well-being of millions of Americans. Compared to previous approaches, they also don’t take inventory risk on the equipment being traded.
THE PERFECT COMBINATION: FRONTLINE EXPERIENCE AND TECHNICAL EXPERTISE
Martin and Alaz aren’t new to building together. They met at Columbia, where they developed apps together. After graduation, Alaz went on to engineering roles at Twitter, and Mem, while Martin worked in private equity at Goldman Sachs, bringing operational rigor to complement his front-line fire service experience.
Martin’s authenticity, paired with Alaz’s product instincts and technical execution, is a combination we’re genuinely excited to back for the next ten years. This is a deep, mission-oriented company. It’s not uncommon for Martin to share stories with us during office hours of how he’s used his firefighting training to help a stranger drowning.
WHY OVERLOOKED INDUSTRIES MAKE THE BEST INVESTMENTS
At Initialized, we believe some of the best opportunities lie in underserved, overlooked industries, where the tools haven’t caught up to the needs of the people using them. Garage is a perfect example of that thesis in action.
As the market shifts toward more capital efficiency and durable business models, Garage stands out: high-value transactions, strong early traction, and a clear roadmap to scale. We’re proud to have led Garage’s seed round and to be part of this $13.5M Series A alongside Infinity Ventures, Y Combinator, Benchstrength, Wayfinder Ventures, and FJ Labs, and we’re excited to support Garage as they continue building the infrastructure America’s communities rely on.
Garage is hiring! Visit shopgarage.com/careers if you’re interested in joining this stellar team.
Visit www.shopgarage.com to learn more about Garage.
