A start-up that promotes “tiny” living just raised a decidedly big amount of money — and is well on the way to helping stressed-out city dwellers find their happy place.
After closing a $15 million funding round Feb. 21, Brooklyn, New York, based start-up Getaway, which builds and rents tiny homes as destinations for vacationers, plans to expand beyond its current locations near Boston and New York, the company recently told CNBC.
Getaway’s funding round was backed by L Catterton, a firm that’s invested in start-ups like Pure Barre, Snap Kitchen and Bliss. Prior to this investment, Getaway previously raised $1.4 million in seed financing, according to the company.
Often priced under $50,000 and offering just a few hundred square feet of livable space, tiny homes are part of a growing movement among the world-weary — many of them indebted millennials — looking to downsize, or live a simpler existence.
Enter Getaway, which offers custom-built, simplistic tiny homes nestled in the heart of nature, and without a Wi-Fi network in sight. The stay includes a lock box for guests’ cellphones and hair that smells like a campfire. The next locations to build are still being determined.
While the houses at Getaway are small, the big idea is a solution to the growing inability for consumers to disassociate themselves from the relentless pull of technology and work. More people appear to be buying into the concept, and Getaway bills itself as a way to “test drive” the tiny living aesthetic.
“We have thousands of people writing in from around the country asking to nominate their city,” founder and CEO Jon Staff told CNBC in an interview. “The game for the next year and beyond is trying to get to as many of those people as possible.”
