AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 25, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SpareFoot, which operates the country's largest online marketplace for self-storage, has raised $10 million in venture capital from Insight Venture Partners.
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Austin-based SpareFoot has raised a total of $26 million in venture capital since it was founded in 2008. Of that amount, $22 million came from New York-based Insight Venture Partners — $10 million this year and $12 million last year.
SpareFoot's other major investors are Capital Factory, FLOODGATE and Silverton Partners.
"SpareFoot will use this latest investment to double down on engineering and product development," said Chuck Gordon, co-founder and CEO of SpareFoot. "We believe there is a big opportunity to expand our offerings in the market, and that's what we're going to do. Our goal is to make renting a storage unit easier than booking a hotel room, and this new investment will help us make that happen."
SpareFoot employs nearly 120 people at its headquarters in downtown Austin. By the end of the year, the startup aims to employ nearly 160 people, Gordon said. Most of the new hires will be in customer service, engineering and product development.
Richard Wells, managing director of Insight Venture Partners and a member of SpareFoot's board, said: "We're thrilled about our latest investment in SpareFoot. SpareFoot has done a great job of bringing together a highly fragmented market of small self-storage storage operators and is doing an even better job helping them compete with the large players."
About SpareFoot
SpareFoot makes renting self-storage easy. Our free marketplace lets customers find and reserve storage units online. We have the largest inventory of storage units in the U.S., with a network of more than 7,000 facilities ranging from mom-and-pop to publicly traded REIT. We reach millions of people who need storage through exclusive partnerships with brands like SelfStorage.com, Apartments.com and Penske Truck Rental.
For more information, visit SpareFoot.com.
About Insight Venture Partners
Insight Venture Partners is a leading global private equity and venture capital firm investing in software, Internet and data-services companies. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $7.6 billion and made more than 200 investments worldwide. Insight's mission is to find, fund and work successfully with visionary executives who are driving change in their industries. Insight provides them with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success.
For more information on Insight and its investments, visit www.InsightPartners.com.
