Anyone who thinks the self storage industry is less than exciting has obviously never taken the time to give it a true look. There has been self storage in caves and units primarily available to rich and famous. Now, is self storage going where most men have never been before – space? Not exactly but a new company in Singapore is certainly making its mark on the self storage industry with its new-age name. Startup company Spaceship recently had a soft launch with investment from Ardent Capital.
In November 2014, Spaceship received an undisclosed seed investment from Ardent Capital and then went live in January 2015. Just three weeks after its launch, the company has already secured 35 private customers and 3 corporate clients., including European cosmetics company Eugene Perma. The company’s goal is to aquire at least 5000 consumers in the first six months of its operation. Spaceship’s founder, Yeo Zhi Wei, is new to the self storage industry having previously worked for SingTel Innov8 Ventures and Venture Counseling.
Spaceship’s business model is similar to other valet self storage startups like Clutter and MakeSpace that have recently popped up around the U.S. However, the concept is somewhat revolutionary in Singapore, where similar services are not as widespread. Singapore has around 20 self storage facilities with over 1.5 million square feet of rentable space. According to Rohit Mulani, Spaceship’s head of sales and marketing, the self storage industry itself has grown in Singapore by 28 percent annually, which created an opportunity for Spaceship to dive into the market. Vault Dragon is perhaps Spaceship’s biggest competitor at the moment and has secured over $90, 000 in funding.
Spaceship differentiates itself from Vault Dragon by focusing more on small businesses. It also takes a variety of items into storage, while Vault Dragon is limited to regular sized boxes and doesn’t take miscellaneous or bulky items. Both companies offer similarly priced valet self storage options.
Valet self storage options are starting to takeoff in the United States so it will be interested to see how these businesses develop overseas. Americans still consume more self storage space than anywhere else in the world but demand has been picking up internationally as well. Our Singapore readers are welcome to share their experience with Spaceship, Vault Dragon, or any other valet self storage company in the country.
