MakeSpace Labs Inc., a startup business specializing in valet self-storage services in New York City, has hired Toby Ciottone as vice president of growth, strategy and expansion. The move comes two weeks after MakeSpace announced plans to expand its services nationwide.

The company has offered local door-to-door service for customers’ stored goods since it launched last year and is now collaborating with partners to offer property retrieval and delivery anywhere in the country. Ciottone will be based in Chicago and tasked with helping scale services to markets outside of New York. "We want to build a national storage company," CEO Sam Rosen told the source. "We know Toby is the guy to help us do that."

MakeSpace creates a visual catalog of each storage box stored in its warehouse. Customers have access to the catalog through a cloud-based platform, which allows them to keep track of their items and request them when desired.

Ciottone comes to MakeSpace from Hailo, a London-based car-service app similar to Uber and Lyft. Ciottone was Hailo’s general manager in Boston and Chicago before the company ceased North American operations on Oct. 14, according to the source. He also previously worked in new-market development for Zipcar, an app-based ride-sharing and car-club service.

"A big challenge we faced at Hailo was the difficulty in scalability due to the intense competition in the U.S. MakeSpace is a leader in the [valet storage] category," Ciottone told the source. "I am excited to assist in the growth and steady expansion of MakeSpace, as well as having a hand in revolutionizing a previously antiquated industry.”

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