Rocket Internet’s first post-IPO incursion into the USA sees SpaceWays launch in Chicago

Although Rocket Internet has (or has had) presences in lots of countries around the world, the USA has never been much of a market for the business-model-cloning incubator. It does make occasional exceptions, though, for example Glossybox and HelloFresh, and now, weeks after its IPO, another Rocket-backed startup is launching there.

Physical storage startup SpaceWays first launched in London earlier this year, and it has since expanded to Paris. Today it’s making the move into the US market, initially targeting Chicago.

Similar to US-based rivals MakeSpace and Boxbee, SpaceWays is aimed at people who have too much stuff for their physical space. You order storage boxes from them, fill them up and then they’re taken away and stored remotely for you. US pricing is $5.90 per box per month (with a three-month minimum payment), and redelivery costs $19 when you want the items back.

So should we expect more Rocket Internet startups, often working to clones of US-originated business models, to push into the States? A spokesperson tells us that while the USA is an “interesting market for us,” the company remains “committed to our strategy of becoming the largest Internet company outside the U.S. and China.” So that’s a strong ‘maybe’, then.