The current antiquated self-storage industry is $38 billion and continues to grow. MakeSpace is a New York-based on-demand storage startup on a mission to revolutionize the self-storage industry. MakeSpace founders Sam Rosen and Rahul Gandhi, set out to make storage more consumer-friendly, creating an affordable storage service that allows consumers to store their belongings without lifting a finger.
Today, MakeSpace announced it has secured $55 million in Series E funding to fuel new products, more capabilities, and further expansion into 31 markets. The round, which brings the company’s total funding to $55 million, was led Iron Mountain, with participation from 8VC, Upfront Ventures, Maywic Select Investments, Ten Eighty, Provenio Capital, and CX Collective.
This new funding follows a year of tremendous growth for MakeSpace, which included expansion to 20 additional markets in 2019 through its partnership with Iron Mountain, and its development of new product offerings such as disposal and shredding, and Seasonal Closet, which launched earlier this year.
Founded in 2013 by Adam LeVasseur, Rahul Gandhi, and Sam Rosen, MakeSpace is a storage company that makes it easy to order, store, and retrieve physical belongings. Customers pay only for the space they need, and schedule pickups, drop-offs, and other services through an app and digital photo inventory. MakeSpace costs about the same as local self-storage options, but includes extra services and supplies that typically cost self-storage customers hundreds of dollars more.
“It has been amazing to see what MakeSpace has accomplished in the past year alone, growing from 4 to 24 markets almost overnight, and adding another 7 in 2020. They have taken a unique approach to storage that answers the modern customer’s demand for convenience, using technology to enhance the service and grow at an immense scale,” said Deirdre Evens, Executive Vice President and General Manager of North America Records and Information Management at Iron Mountain. “Especially now, services such as MakeSpace are delivering vital solutions for customers and businesses. MakeSpace has proven itself as an industry leader, finding new ways to offer support and services for this challenging time. We continue to be both proud and excited about our partnership with MakeSpace and the opportunity to leverage Iron Mountain’s storage and logistics expertise to further penetrate the fast growing valet consumer storage market.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a watershed moment for the storage industry. As the traditional self-storage giants are seeing reductions in demand and revenue due to the impact of lockdown measures and social distancing, MakeSpace has been designated as an essential service and continues to see increasing growth due to the convenience and flexibility it offers customers. MakeSpace has made it a priority to support those affected by the pandemic, through programs for college students forced out of their dorms, offering free storage to small businesses impacted by the crisis, and implementing contactless service and new sanitary measures in all affected areas.
“As we think about what the post-COVID world will bring, the current realities have only reinforced the significance and importance of space. With everyone spending more time at home, it’s more important than ever that we’re able to offer customers a convenient, affordable, and safe storage solution,” said Rahul Gandhi, co-founder and CEO of MakeSpace. “This new round of funding will enable us to expand the ways in which we support our customers even further, whether that’s through the products and technology we develop or the new locations we reach.”
