Luggage storage startup Bounce closes $12m Series A round
US: San Francisco-based luggage storage startup Bounce has announced that it has closed a $12 million Series A funding round.
The round was led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz [a16z], with participation from General Catalyst [who led Bounce’s seed round in December] and a number of other unnamed investors.
Bounce plans to use the raise to accelerate its expansion into Europe, with a particular focus on Italy, France, Portugal and the UK, as well as efforts to build additional verticals to drive even more revenue to small businesses. The company is on a mission to build the world’s largest retail chain without owning any physical stores.
The startup currently provides luggage storage for travellers and tourists in cities across the world, as well as package receiving services for city dwellers. To do this, it partners with local businesses and promotes them to users via the Bounce platform.
Despite the impact that Covid-19 had on the travel industry, Bounce said that it paid out more than one million dollars to local businesses during the pandemic alone.
Andrew Chen, general partner at a16z, said: “Bounce has shown tremendous resilience throughout the pandemic, continuing to not only build but also grow. By aggregating all different types of SMB supply – from hotels to post offices to bike rental shops – they’ve been able to establish a strong network that they can continue to grow and offer more services on top of.”
Bounce CEO Cody Candee said: “We’re excited to work with a16z and use this opportunity to empower even more local businesses to diversify their revenue streams. The pandemic really highlighted the importance of having multiple income streams, especially as we saw so many small businesses pivot to survive.
“This raise marks a massive milestone in our efforts to help local stores across the world expand their existing businesses, while also offering Bounce users even more opportunities to live life without having to plan around their physical belongings,” he added.
One of the ways that Bounce plans to further support its local business partners is through its newly launched BounceBack program. The startup is committing to deploying more than three million into the program for its partners by the end of the summer.
In Europe, Bounce is continuing to accelerate its expansion, having secured almost 200 partners in London, 170 in Paris, and more in cities such as Madrid, Rome, Budapest and Dubrovnik. The company also established its new Europe HQ in Lisbon last year in preparation for its growth on the continent, after growing 38x in 2021.
Founded in 2018, Bounce operates in more than 7000 locations worldwide in North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania.
