Why We're Diving in with Swimply
By Conrad Shang
“Every Passion Needs a Space” - Swimply CEO/Founder, Bunim Laskin
Today, Ensemble VC is excited to share that we’ve invested in Swimply, an online peer-to-peer marketplace that allows homeowners (hosts) to share their passion spaces with their local communities (guests).
When we first met Swimply, we were immediately struck by CEO and Founder, Bunim Laskin’s greater purpose for the company and how he arrived at it through sheer personal hustle and persistence.
“Everybody needs a passion that allows them to step off of the “conveyor belt of life”. Right now, only the privileged and the very successful get to. We want to democratize those experiences and create a world where ownership is either over-rated or ridiculously intelligent and meaningful.”
The first passion space available on the Swimply platform was swimming pools. Guests can rent a host’s private pool at an hourly rate for family getaways, exercise/swim lessons, parties, etc., and Swimply takes 25% of the transaction value.
While it’s easy to appreciate the simplicity of the model, it’s much more remarkable to see how the marketplace has thrived. In only two years, Swimply has generated significant revenue, half of which came from markets that Swimply wasn’t even operating in yet (e.g., no marketing, no host support and no local team). There were also hosts making over $160,000 per year renting out their pool and could run their own marketing (unlike Airbnb) due to Swimply’s local-nature.
What’s Next for Swimply?
We are excited to partner with an incredible team, including COO/Co-Founder, Asher Weinberger who was previously founder/CEO of Twillory, and CXO, Ha Nguyen who held senior product roles at consumer marketplaces (eBay, Oodle) and consumer-facing ecommerce companies. Swimply now employs over 30 people and has raised a $40 million Series A to launch in new cities and accommodate new passion spaces.
One of the most interesting things about Swimply is that they were able to create consumer behaviors that didn’t previously exist. People didn’t know that they could do this. Now that they do, there’s no need for them to build a pool in their yard when there are bigger and better pools in the neighborhood - the same goes for music rooms, sport courts, or even a nice backyard for a wedding.
Swimply helps bring communities together, encouraging those that have a lot to share with those that don’t. In fact, they find that while a lot of pool owners initially sign up to make some money, they stay because they love being able to give something back to their local community. More sharing equals more interaction, and more interaction equals a happier and healthier community.
They say that “every passion needs a space”, and that’s a vision that we agree with.
We are deeply passionate about helping individuals share their passion spaces and if this is a mission you share, come join Swimply! Here are the open roles.