Carl August Ameln
Norwegian businessman
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The basics
Quick Facts
| Intro | Norwegian businessman | |
| Places | Norway | |
| is | Businessperson | |
| Work field | Business | |
| Gender |
| |
| Birth | 4 October 1967 | |
| Age | 57 years | |
| Star sign | Libra |
The details
Biography
LOVESPACE offers by-the-box storage with collection and delivery in the United Kingdom. The company also provides operational and logistical support to small businesses by transporting equipment, storing archival documents and storing surplus stock.
History
LOVESPACE was established in 2011 by Brett Akker and Carl August Ameln. Brett Akker had previously founded the carsharing company Streetcar. Carl August Ameln was the founder of City Self-Storage, a multi-national chain of self-storage centres. Ameln had previously been an investor in Streetcar.
A pilot service launched in 2012 and in 2013 LOVESPACE hired Steve Folwell as managing director. He was previously the director of business development and group director of strategy at the Guardian Media Group. With a focus on students, house movers and space-constrained and small businesses, the company launched a full service later that year. Steve Folwell was promoted to CEO in 2014. In 2015 LOVESPACE moved to a new warehouse in order to accommodate growth.
In 2018 LOVESPACE launched operations in Lisbon and Dublin.
Investment
Smedvig Capital and First Risk Capital were initial investors. Both companies have had experience in the storage industry. A 2014 fundraising campaign on the crowdfunding platform CrowdCube raised £1.55m, surpassing its £600k target to be overfunded by 167%.
In 2015, the company raised £1.1m in a round which was led by commercial property provider Workspace Group bringing the total funding to £4m.
Since 2015, LOVESPACE has raised an additional £4m of funding including an investment of £1m in 2017 from Intespace, a South African storage company.
Recognition
- High Growth Team of the Year 2015 UKBAA Angel Investment Awards
- Best Equity Crowdfunded-Angel Investing Deal at the 2014 UKBAA Angel Investment Awards
- UK's Most Innovative Business - O2 Smarta100
- Crowdfunded Business of the Year 2014 - Startups Awards
- Listed in Everline Future 50
- Crowdfunded Business of the Year 2016 - Startups Awards
- Listed in Deloitte's UK Technology Fast 50