Peerspace, an online marketplace that helps people find and rent short-term locations for specific events, has raised $16 million in a series B round of funding led by Alphabet’s investment arm, GV, with participation from Foundation Capital and Red Bridge Partners.
Founded out of San Francisco in 2013, Peerspace is built on a simple proposition: You want a nice space for your film shoot, party, or hipster startup meeting, Peerspace will help you find it. Just enter your desired location (e.g. London, New York, or Berlin) and the type of event, and Peerspace serves up the results.
Peerspace had previously raised around $19 million, and with another $16 million in the bank it plans to accelerate its growth as “the leading online destination for booking event spaces and services,” according to a company statement.
Market(place) demand
Peerspace taps a broader trend that has seen marketplaces skyrocket across myriad industries, from car-sharing, home-sharing, and logistics to buy-and-sell platforms and recruitment. Pairing buyers with sellers, or matching supply with demand, is big business, which is why the likes of Uber and Airbnb are now billion-dollar businesses.
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WeWork is another startup that has grown big off the back of finding people “spaces,” though it has mainly targeted businesses looking for office space. However, WeWork recently acquired Meetup, an online platform that facilitates group interactions in the real world, which fits into WeWork’s broader strategy of accommodating gatherings of people — whether short-term or semi-permanent. With a valuation of $20 billion, WeWork is among the world’s most valuable startups.
Peerspace said that its platform has already facilitated gatherings for nearly 2 million people, with big-name companies such as Apple, CNN, and Airbnb turning to the platform.
“Time is more valuable than ever, and planning a gathering, whether it be for work or play, needs to be streamlined, no price negotiating or site visits required,” said Peerspace CEO Eric Shoup. “This new round of funding will accelerate our efforts to simplify how the world plans gatherings, starting with making it incredibly simple to rent short-term space.”
As a result of GV’s investment, partner Joe Kraus has joined Peerspace’s board of directors.
“How we put together events needs to be brought into the 21st century,” Kraus added. “Reserving a private space and a caterer for a cocktail party down the block is harder than booking a hotel room and tour on the other side of the world.”
