Named as the 368th "Best Franchise" in Entrepreneur Magazine's Top 500 franchises in 2014, D.C.-based Zippy Shell, a self-storage and moving company, has raised a $25 million venture capital round led by private investment firm Virgo Investment Group, the company announced Thursday.
The capital will be used for marketing and advertising purposes, to support strategic acquisitions and for expansion into new markets.
Zippy Shell CEO Rick Del Sontro told DC Inno,"We just recently opened our new office on the Georgetown waterfront which will help us as we expand our employee base. We have already hired two more employees in the last two weeks and will continue to fill new positions. In just a few short years we have grown from 2 employees to over 40. The capital will also support a national brand marketing campaign to increase consumer awareness."
Mack McNair, a founding partner at Virgo who will be joining the Zippy Shell board as its chairman, said in a statement, “We have significant prior experience in the portable moving and storage industry and I can say, without hesitation, that Zippy Shell is a stronger, more customer-friendly business model.”
The Georgetown-based company’s site allows users to quickly organize a large shipping process for a big move, with a large moving container quickly shipped to their address. Orders can be processed via the Web, mobile and by phone.
Zippy Shell’s business is two-part: the first is the services it provides for moving options and the second being storage (residential, commercial, student, realty and military). For reference, Zippy Shell charges $199 monthly fee for about 15 square foot of residential storage space along with a one-time $99 service cost for storage in the nearby suburb of Rockville, MD.
“This partnership will allow us to significantly accelerate our growth and achieve our vision of being a recognized leader in the storage and moving market,” Gareth Taylor, Founder and President of Zippy Shell, said in a statement provided to DC Inno.
The items you need to keep on-hand during a big #move.http://t.co/G4GV18b6RR pic.twitter.com/MgWKu085Ct
— Zippy Shell (@ZippyShell) June 3, 2015
Following news of the round, Zippy Shell said in a statement that it was the “fastest growing storage and moving franchise business in the U.S.” In addition, the company said that the investment comes at a critical time, as the summer months leading into the fall are the “busiest [for] moving and storage.”
"Being based in DC has helped us have a central hub for our east coast operations as well as our growing operations in Maryland and Virginia. We have found that it has also given us access to highly educated and experienced employees based on the diverse range of industries in the region. Finally, the DC Market is one of the top storage and moving markets in the country and having our corporate location here provides excellent exposure," Del Sontro told DC Inno.
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