Another entrant onto the "Airbnb of..." scene, London-based CityStasher has raised $1.1 million in seed funding.
The latest round for the startup - which, indeed, bills itself as the "Airbnb for luggage" - is led by Venture Friends and includes backing from Trivago investors Howzat Partners, Charlotte Street Capital and angel investors such as Big Yellow Storage CEO James Gibson.
CityStasher enlists stores, hotels and venues to become “StashPoints” - places that provide secure space for travelers to leave their luggage, bikes and strollers.
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The service is targeted to travelers who need to store their items while waiting to check into accommodations or after they have checked out.
CityStasher launched in 2016 and has 200 StashPoints across the United Kingdom, Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin. The new funding will be used to expand the services across 10 European countries, including France, Germany, Spain and Italy, by the end of 2018.
“We’ve already safely stashed 50,000 bags, and we predict that 2018 will see this number increase dramatically as we rapidly expand our European presence and start to map out our global ambitions,” says CityStasher CEO Jacob Wedderburn-Day.
The company will also use the investment to test new services including luggage delivery within and between cities.