Clutter, the on-demand storage app that helps hobbyist hoarders get rid of garage garbáge, raised between $200m and $250m in a new funding round, according to a TechCrunch report.
Thanks to the magic of Marie Kondo, decluttering is totally ‘in’ this season, and as a result on-demand cleaning and storage apps like Clutter are sweeping up huge funding rounds.
Tidying is the trend of the season
Marie Kondo’s bestselling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, encourages those with cluttered consciences to throw away all things that don’t ‘spark joy.’
But, instead of jettisoning all their junk, many of the planet’s more possessive proprietors are simply moving things to storage.
Out of garage, out of mind
Clutter offers an alternative to Kondo-ing for anyone who doesn’t really want to let their junk go.
The on-demand storage company takes away all your not-needs, stores them for as long as you do need, and returns it all (at the touch of a button) when your spouse finally gives you permission to hang up your neon “Pull my finger” sign.
Clutter, which currently operates in San Francisco, LA, Seattle, New York, and Chicago, is now valued between $400m and $500m.
The business of decluttering is a mess
Clutter may be able to help you clean out your in-law unit, but so far it hasn’t been able to clean up its own fragmented storage industry.
The $40B industry is littered with dusty old-timers (Public Storage, U-Haul) and disorganized newcomers (Omni, MakeSpace, Closetbox), but no single company has established a clean lead.
But with this new round of funding, Clutter could finally sweep up the competition: When it closes this round, Clutter will have raised more money than all its startup competitors combined.
