The eventful entrepreneurial journey of HSG spin-off storabble

2022, an entrepreneurship course at the HSG: a group project turns into a start-up that four students actually launch after the semester as ‘storabble’. The idea: to rent out empty basement rooms to private individuals via a platform – an Airbnb for storage space, so to speak. The four founders set to work with great enthusiasm. But after just one year, it's clear that the business model isn't working.

‘Our initial idea for a peer-to-peer platform failed because we couldn't convince private individuals to rent out their spare basement rooms,’ says Oliver Meyer, CEO and co-founder of storabble. He has been open about this early setback from the outset. ‘We didn't give up, but used it to reposition ourselves. Failure is part of starting a business. The question is how you deal with it.’

The relaunch was a success – no longer with hobby basements, but with professional storage rooms. Storabble has since focused on space from real estate companies, self-storage providers and businesses. ‘This allows us to guarantee a standard of quality and appeal not only to private individuals but also to companies looking for space,’ explains Meyer, who has been running the company since early 2025 together with ETH graduate Sandro Kalbermatter.

From the lecture hall to an HSG spin-off

The platform offers a comparison overview of storage spaces – filterable by region and size, with clear terms and conditions. Today, storabble is the largest platform of its kind in the DACH region. Over 15,000 listings are available, many of which are exclusive and can be rented directly on the platform. These storage spaces, which can only be found on storabble, would remain empty and unused in the long term without storabble's rental processes. Landlords pay for referrals or use tools for automated letting. This makes the platform free for users.

Storabble has also held the official HSG spin-off label since the beginning of 2025. Oliver Meyer himself has remained connected to the HSG in other ways: in a lecture in spring 2025, he shared his experiences of finding investors with students as a guest speaker. At the same time, he is involved in providing advice to attendees of the HSG's Best Founders Programme, a programme he himself went through as a student.

Expansion with a sense of proportion

Storabble has been live in Germany since the end of 2024 and is growing there. ‘We are registering 4,000 to 6,000 new users every month,’ says Meyer. What makes it special is that Storabble operates with a different approach in Germany. Unlike in Switzerland, Storabble in Germany ‘only’ compiles an overview of available listings and currently knows only a few of the storage providers personally. ‘We have such low costs because we hardly need any customer support.’ This allows the company to tap into new markets with minimal resources – which is the goal.

Austria was tapped with the same strategy at the beginning of June 2025. This means that, right from the start, all storage spaces in Austria at around 500 self-storage locations can be found and compared on storabble. France is set to follow by the end of 2025. The break-even point is also within reach. Meyer says, ‘We're aiming to be profitable by the end of 2025.’

Storabble is supported by investor Roland Brack, who was impressed by the company's appearance on the start-up show Die Höhle der Löwen (The Lion's Den). The St. Gallen-based Startfeld foundation is also one of its sponsors. The HSG is also involved in this foundation as a sponsor.

The vision: clicks instead of chaos

What remains is the original vision: that no one will have to spend hours scrolling through forums or websites to rent a storage room nearby. Instead, they can simply go to Storabble – click, find a room, confirm the rent. Some listings already offer online viewings. Storabble plans to continuously expand its services for landlords. ‘There are tens of thousands of vacant storage rooms in Swiss cities – this potential should be exploited,’ says Meyer. He sums it up: ‘Our vision is that anyone looking for a storage room will find it with us – and be able to rent it with just a few clicks.’