London-based Stasher, a sharing economy network for luggage storage, has today announced a €2.25 million funding round led by Venture Friends, along with various angels including Johan Svanstrom, former president of Hotels.com.
Stasher, launched in 2015, is a sharing economy solution to luggage storage, offering insurance and customer support to users. The platform works as an online marketplace connecting travellers, event-attendees and vacation rental guests with local shops and hotels who can store their luggage on a short-to-medium term basis. In exchange, the startup offers hosts roughly 50% commission on all transactions and helps support brick and mortar. The luggage storage app has seen phenomenal growth with close to half a million bags being stored to date in 1200+ locations, in 250 cities, across 6 continents. Most notably, the luggage storage app has expanded to the US and Australia since 2018 – staying ahead of competitors in those markets and making the modern travel experience more seamless is going to be the focus of Stasher’s investment round.
Last year, Stasher partnered with the likes of Klook, Sonder, Marriott, and Hotels.com. Jacob Wedderburn- Day, Stasher’s CEO and Co-founder, believes the key for 2020 is to continue building partnerships with trusted companies and to continue working with quality brands such as Premier Inn, Expedia, Holiday Express, OYO and Accor to expand their network of locations globally.
Commenting on Stasher’s strategy for 2020, Jacob said: “Exclusive integration with top quality brands have helped solidify our position as the most trusted brand in the market, and they hold the key to our expansion strategy for 2020. We don’t just want to be present in every city in the world, we want to be present in the most trusted and secure locations in every city in the world. This will set us apart from our competitors”.
Looking forward, Jacob said: “As a travel platform with an obvious global network effect, we always aimed to build a global platform, and we’re extremely proud to have reached that goal. Being already present across Europe, the US and Asia proves there is a demand for our services worldwide. However, we are far from finished. Advancing our relationships with hosts and improving customer service will enable us to ensure a frictionless city break for customers worldwide”.
Apostolos from VentureFriends added “We have been impressed by the demand for the service as well as the ability of the team to expand the offering in so many cities within just 2 years. However, what really impressed us with the team at Stasher was their uncompromising focus on the consumer experience and safety from day one. This is what sets them apart and will allow them to remain the leading service provider globally”.
