Valet Self-Storage Startup Omni Raises $7M in Funding Led by Highland Capital Partners

Omni, an app-based startup specializing in valet self-storage services in San Francisco, has raised $7 million in a Series A round of investment to help fund market expansion and launch new service features. The round was led by venture-capital firm Highland Capital Partners and brings Omni’s investment total to $10 million, according to a press release.

Similar to other valet-storage operators, Omni offers pickup and delivery of stored items and targets urban customers who don’t have storage room in their residence or may not have transportation to a traditional self-storage facility. The company differs somewhat in its storage-and-fee model in that it specializes in storing individual items rather than bins. Customers are charged 25 cents each for standard items, such as books, cameras, clothes and toys, and $2 each for large items, such as bikes, golf bags, standing lamps and surfboards. Customers with packed bags or boxes are charged $5 per “closed container,” the release stated.

Once items are picked up and taken to one of three Omni storage facilities, staff members photograph and catalog each item or closed container and upload the images and information to the customer’s account. Customers can schedule delivery of items through the iOS app. Delivery is free as long as there’s enough lead time and the location is the customer’s primary address on file. Delivery fees are charged for rush delivery or alternative locations, according to the company website.

“We look at ourselves as a distribution company. It is less about the stuff and more about the movement of stuff,” CEO Thomas McLeod told the source. The company’s optimal customers are “lifestyle users” who need occasional access to items rather than infrequent use, such as a large piece of furniture, he said.

While Omni intends to expand to other markets, future services could include shared use or sale of items between customers. “In the past, if you wanted to sell or rent something, it is a long process where you have to meet them and coordinate a time,” McLeod told the source. “With Omni, we are building a transportation and distribution system, so that is definitely where we are heading.”

Other early investors include venture-capital firms Bolt Capital and Formation 8, as well as celebrities including Sophia Bush and Drake, according the release.