Swimming Pool Marketplace Swimply Scoops Up $10 Million to Support Business Expansion

By McKenzie Carpenter | Friday, 07 May 2021 | Startup, Finance

Swimply, a swimming pool rental startup company, announced it raised $10 million to aid in its business growth.

Swimply is a marketplace for homeowners to rent out their underutilized pools to local swimmers.

About Swimply

Launched in 2018, Swimply is a swimming pool marketplace startup company that features an app allowing homeowners to rent out their pools to local swimmers. Essentially, the business acts as an Airbnb but for swimming pools.

Although the app was initially founded for swimming pool rentals, the startup company has since expanded its reach through its sub-offering, Joyspace. The Joyspace platform created by the business allows homeowners to rent out other underutilized recreational areas such as basketball courts, private gyms, docked boats, tennis courts, hot tubs, and more.

Hosts on the Swimply app can select to rent their pool at whatever price they would like and are paid as soon as a guest makes a reservation. However, the startup company takes a 15% service fee. In addition, Swimply hosts in the United States (US) are automatically covered by medical and disability insurance as well as property damage insurance — all completely covered by the business.

Some hosts on the app even charge more if they provide access to a restroom. If hosts do not want to provide access to their homes, the startup company will deliver a portable restroom to their location that is maintained once a week. However, Swimply does not disclose how much extra it charges for the portable restroom and does not offer pool-cleaning services.

In March 2020, the app was featured on an episode of Shark Tank and went home without a deal.

New Financing, New Markets

Swimply announced it raised $10 million in a Series A financing round led by Norwest Venture Partners. Trust Investors and other angel investors also participated in this round. Crunchbase data reports Swimply has raised $11.2 million in total funding.

Asher Weinberger, co-founder and COO of Swimply, said in a statement, “Swimming is the third most popular activity for adults and number one for children, and yet no other company has tackled the aquatic space to make swimming more affordable and accessible...until now.”

According to the startup, 96% of Americans do not have access to a swimming pool, therefore creating an opportunity for the business in this untapped market.

In addition to the new financing, the company also announced it was expanding to 25 new cities in the US. The app is currently available in select markets in Canada and Australia as well as 125 markets in the US. Moreover, Swimply revenue reportedly grew 4,000% in 2020.

The business plans to use the new capital to support additional market launches, product developments, and increased insurance coverage for hosts.

Personal Rental Industry

Rental companies like Swimply are popping up in a variety of industries. While Airbnb controls much of the home rental market, Neighbor is a self-storage marketplace that allows people to rent out vacant spaces in their homes or offices for storage purposes.

Startup Savant reported in March that Getaround launched a new Power Host Program that supports hosts with more than one car. Getaround is a car-sharing marketplace startup that allows anyone to rent their cars.


About the Author

Headshot of McKenzie Carpenter

McKenzie Carpenter is a graduate of Central Michigan University with a B.A.A. in Integrative Public Relations and French. McKenzie has previously worked for small businesses and nonprofit organizations.

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