Stashbee

Idea

Introduction

In many areas, space has never been at such a premium, and we live in an era where people have more belongings than ever before. Stashbee aims to reinvent the way we store stuff for the sharing economy generation.

Our easy-to-use platform connects individuals & businesses who have spare space (garages, spare rooms, parking spaces, warehouses) with those who need it (private and business storage, parking, warehousing). Think of it as Airbnb for storage.

For our Guests, we offer secure, vetted, local spaces at affordable prices. Meanwhile we empower our Hosts with an easy way to earn additional income.

Our world-class website automates the end-to-end booking process, seamlessly processes payments, and offers a powerful and easy-to-use dashboard for Guests and Hosts to interact and manage bookings. We make the process safe and secure by running ID checks. We also provide insurance, which is powered by Guardhog and underwritten by Hiscox and is specifically designed for peer-to-peer storage, to cover people's stored items.

Intended impact

People everywhere are increasingly looking beyond their homes for storage space. Self-storage options can be pricey and inconveniently located, and we consider that there aren't many alternatives out there.

Having felt this pain ourselves, we set out to see if others had the same problem. We spoke to everyone from house-movers to ex-pats, and from growing businesses to car collectors. We found one thing to be true: finding spare space is hard.

Meanwhile, we estimate that there are 1.5 billion square feet of under-utilised space in warehouses, spare rooms & garages right across the UK which is sitting idle and untapped.

Our platform harnesses the power of the sharing economy to allow people and businesses to find and book spare space in garages, spare rooms, parking spaces and warehouses. At the same time, we're providing a hassle-free way for people with idle space to make extra income.

Stashbee aims to make storage space easy, affordable and convenient for everyone, everywhere.

Substantial accomplishments to date

SUMMARY ACHIEVEMENTS.
• Over 36,000 storage days hosted to date.
• Between July 17 and Jan 18 our host network grew at a rate of 35% month-on-month.
• We are rated 9.5 out of 10 on Trust Pilot by our delighted Guests and Hosts.
• Built a brilliant automated online marketplace platform. Functionality includes listing creation, browse and book, messaging between users, automatic payment & invoicing, flexible cancellation and date changing, auto ID checks, and much more.
• We have been featured by the BBC, The Times, Mail Online, The Sun, Esquire, and many more.
• Graduated from the Ignite, Europe's leading angel-led Accelerator Programme.

THE FOUNDERS & TEAM.
• Stashbee is led by David Mantle (Sales & Marketing) & Anthony Paine (Tech & Product), who between them have extensive experience in Management Consulting, Customer Experience, and Technology.
• Between them they have worked with BP, Citi Group, Accenture, Jaguar Land Rover, ITV, Lloyds TSB and more.
• Both founders care passionately about customer service and believe in the power of the sharing economy to transform industries for the better.
• We have built a fantastic team which includes an incredible tech team, marketing team, operations and customer service.

Monetisation strategy

Stashbee collects monthly payments from Guests who are renting a Stashbee Space, and then pay out to our Hosts. Our simple revenue model involves charging a Service Fee of 20% on each monthly transaction.

We also provide additional services such as transport, with others including packaging expected to be added within the next few months.

Use of proceeds

Stashbee are raising funding to fuel expansion through marketing, key hires and product development.

• Growth: We will run geo-targeted marketing campaigns in and outside of London as well as in other markets for both Hosts and Guests (on and off-line).
• Team: Recruit into key roles to support increased volume (customer support, operations, marketing, tech & testing, finance).
• Product: We will continue to enhance our product and operational tools to minimise manual intervention, and constantly simplify and improve user experience.