Excited to lead the sourcing and acquisition of Roo Storage for Handled. As a founder and CEO, it’s always Invigorating to make deals that have the possibility to drive so much growth. The Roo team is a small, but mighty group who have expertise and energy to disrupt the storage industry.
Press Release: https://blog.handled.com/revolutionary-moving-and-home-services-company-handled-acquires-roo-storage
ST. LOUIS, MO — Handled, one of the country’s fastest-growing moving and home services companies, acquired Roo storage, a partnership that upends the industry with affordable, reliable and stress-free options from proven professionals. Together, these tech-forward, app-based organizations accelerate and exponentially improve traditional industry models to provide the very best modern-day moving, storage and home services solutions.
Roo launched in April 2018 after Co-Founder Eric Laurent attempted to secure short-term storage space. Like many college students, he had a two-week gap between apartment leases and couldn’t find a place to store his belongings.
After contacting eight storage facilities, only one had availability. Unfortunately, it was twenty minutes away — and cost-prohibitive. That’s when an idea was born. With a bottle of Reisling and $30 in hand, Laurent found an acquaintance who was willing to store his stuff.
That’s when Laurent and friends Jake Hurrell, Kristen Rivers, Pravin Sivabalan and Joe McAllister decided to create a new storage model. Akin to how Airbnb disrupted lodging and Uber and Lyft turned the taxi industry on end, Roo connected customers with storage needs with home and business owners who were willing to store their items. In doing so, Roo delivered high-quality, low-cost storage service unlike any that exists.
“Storage problems, unfortunately, are the norm throughout the country,” said Seth Waite, Handled CEO. “Roo’s passion for meeting customer’s needs aligns perfectly with our mission at Handled — to help the world feel at home, effortlessly, affordably and worry-free.”
Now operating together as Handled, the duo taps into its national network of highly skilled, trained and vetted home service professionals to curate turnkey moving, packing, storage, junk removal, cleaning, landscaping and home repair services, all with guaranteed, instant pricing. Serving as a personal concierge, Handled coordinates with crews throughout the customer journey, delivering five-star experiences and helping new houses, apartments, and condos — not to mention student dorms — look, and feel, like home.
About Handled
Founded on the fact that the moving industry is broken, Handled partnered with the biggest names in the industry — Mayflower and United Van Lines — to create an efficient, wallet-friendly and customer-driven moving and home services experience. Driven by disruptive technologies — including machine learning and artificial intelligence — Handled’s app-based concierge service provides instant, guaranteed quotes, flexible bookings, automatic digital inventories and home services from its trusted, nationwide network of professionals, including moving, packing, storage, junk removal, cleaning, landscaping and home repairs — no appointments or home visits required.
About Roo
A few summers ago, eight frustrating phone calls to storage facilities led Roo’s Co-Founder, Eric Laurent, to create a new, affordable storage model. By providing quality storage solutions at residential and commercial addresses with extra garage, closet and spare room space, he solved storage headaches that led to moving woes. Partnering with Handled in January 2020, Roo and Handled combined forces to solve moving, storage and home services dilemmas and deliver on customer needs — without costing an arm and a leg.
