Dan Hagberg and Nick Huber, who founded the Storage Squad valet-storage business in 2011 to serve college students, sold the company in January to concentrate on growing their traditional self-storage operation, Bolt Storage. Storage Squad was acquired for seven figures by an undisclosed storage-container company, according to the source. At the time of sale, it operated on 30 campuses in nine states.

Hagberg and Huber launched Storage Squad while students of the ILR (Industrial and Labor Relations) School at Cornell University. They later expanded the operation to include more traditional self-storage services, developing their first facility in 2016. Starting in 2017, they acquired 12 more. The partners appear to have retained at least some of those assets, which are now rebranded under the Bolt Storage name.

“You can start a small business that isn’t really revolutionary or new and operate it well and be successful,” Huber told the source. “Me and Dan are living proof of that. We started a small business in Ithaca, N.Y., and it completely changed our lives.”

Most Bolt facilities are automated, according to the source. “When we acquire a new asset, we wrap the facility in tech and turn it into a better and more user-friendly customer experience,” Huber said. The company now has 10 more self-storage acquisitions under contract, which it intends to close this summer, the source reported. Its portfolio is spread across New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Source:
Cornell Chronicle, ILR Alumni Sell Storage Business for Seven Figures