Meet Our Founder
Punsri Abeywickrema
Prior to founding Rentalic, Abeywickrema spent the first decade of his career in software, operations, and management with names such as LinkedIn, PayPal, Oracle, InstallShield and Zynga. This, along with honors from University of Wisconsin, gave Abeywickrema what Hacker.com called "business and technical chops and social networking credentials" while dubbing Rentalic "the most promising" player among emerging peer-to-peer sharing platforms.
Abeywickrema built a team of Silicon-Valley professionals, developed a patent-pending verification technology, launched the Rentalic.com site, and quickly catalyzed the access-over-ownership cultural shift.
Emerging Sharing Trend Expert
Recognized as an authority in the emerging sharing trend, Abeywickrema has spoken on numerous panels including and serves as an advisor to Sharable magazine. He has garnered awards from PayPal X Innovate, and Maker Faire .
When not fielding interviews from business and media, Abeywickrema continues to make calculated improvements to Rentalic.
Past Speaking Engagements
- MakerFaire 2011 – The New Sharing Economy
- ShareSF 2011 – Peer to Peer Sharing
- SXSW 2011 – The New Sharing Economy
- Future Salon @ SAP – The New Sharing Economy
- Bloomberg at San Francisco – Person to Person Renting
- California State University-East Bay – Green Trends & Sustainability
- Bernal Heights Center, San Francisco – Role of Sharing in Communities
- Maker Faire 2010 – Person to Person Renting for DIY communities
About Rentalic
Rentalic began with a backyard project. Needing to haul dirt, Abeywickrema hesitated to repeatedly ask neighbors to borrow a wheelbarrow. Knowing this to be a common dilemma in a consumer society, he thought of peer-to-peer renting as a solution. With some security measures and a little bit of compensation, suddenly the idea of borrowing tools doesn't feel like sponging off a neighbor. In fact it's a fun way to save money and reduce consumption!
