Self-storage firm Spacer buys out rival Roost to expand U.S. footprint
Spacer, a peer-to-peer marketplace for self-storage and parking space, has acquired space-sharing company Roost for an undisclosed sum as it seeks to expand into the $28 billion U.S. market, the largest self-storage market in the world.
The acquisition of the American company is part of Spacer’s strategy to become the global leader in shared storage, commercial and parking space, according to a media release. The U.S self-storage market is about 33 times the size of the Australian market.
Space become a valuable tradable commodity with the rise of urbanisation, population growth and smaller living areas.
The acquisition includes all intellectual property including database, tech platform, customers and to keep consistency globally, the rebrand of the name to Spacer.com.
“Expanding into the United States is a significant milestone achievement for the business, and a strategic move to take on the biggest market globally,” said Mike Rosenbaum, CEO and co-founder of Spacer.
The deal also comes with partnerships with several of America’s leading car rental services including Zip Car, Enterprise and Maven Drive, to offer car parking spaces through peer-to-peer sharing across the West Coast of America.
Spacer has enjoyed exponential success since its launch in October 2015, with the company currently experiencing 30% month-on-month growth.
Jonathan Gillon, co-founder and CEO of Roost said the acquisition highlights "the huge growth potential of space sharing in the U.S.”
Spacer will focus on San Francisco, Washington DC and Chicago, before looking to scale to other cities. The U.S. head office will be in Silicon Valley, where Spacer’s tech platform is housed, and the company will keep on U.S. staff to ensure a seamless transition.
Total public self-storage rentable space represents more than 210 million square metres, or 1,400 football fields of available storage space in the U.S. and growing.
“We look forward to taking the Roost business through its next growth stage, by adopting our Australian learnings and translating it into the world’s largest consumer market.
Our intention is to build an international business, with the right mix of on the ground staff supported by our global platform,” says Roland Tam, co-founder of Spacer.
