Making money from empty space

Cameron Wislang’s start-up ‘To the Loft’ taps into the peer-to-peer marketplace and is the first business of its kind in New Zealand.

Ten years ago, you wouldn’t stay in someone’s home whom you didn’t previously know. You couldn’t rent their car or their valuables. Yet now you can, and do! 

So, imagine being able to rent someone’s unused space to store your excess items – it isn’t too hard, says Cameron Wislang, founder of ‘To the Loft’.

Not long ago, Wislang was moving into a small apartment in Auckland’s CBD to be closer to work. Coming from a larger house, he was slightly materially over committed! So, he decided that he needed to store some of his more sentimental items. 
But here was the problem. Already paying “sky-high” Auckland rental prices, he found storage facilities in Auckland were all the same; every time he went for a new quote the price seemed to keep rising.

Out of frustration Wislang came up with a peer-to-peer storage model, where someone with unused space could rent it out at a fair price to those looking to store their items. 

Fast forward to March 2017. Wislang takes his idea to Auckland’s Startup Weekend accelerator where he meets now co-director, Louise Hejinen. Through a weekend of tough challenges, they managed to make it out the other side, winning first place and awarded praise from some of New Zealand’s top entrepreneurial minds.

Since then the pair have been working tirelessly to bring a top-quality product to market which will be a first of its kind in New Zealand.

“We have made sure that ‘To the Loft’ is a product that will work securely and seamlessly with the New Zealand market place, which hasn’t been easy, but definitely worth it,” says Wislang. “The top priority for us has been, and always will be, the safety and trust of our customers. We have extremely robust checks in place to make sure your items or your home will be safe.”

The founders fondly think of ‘To the Loft’ as an “Airbnb for storage” and have now successfully launched the service and found an overwhelming demand. 

Looking to the future Wislang says, “We have many different partnerships and collaborations coming up that are all very exciting but we will keep that to ourselves for now! 
“Watch this ‘space’!”

Photo: Cameron Wislang and Louise Hejinen.