Katie Canales/Business Insider
Solutions to storage problems continue to resonate with the market, from storage in the cloud to, now, storage in the ceilings.
- A San Francisco startup designs modules that store your bed, closet, desk, and nightstand in the ceiling that can be lowered on your command.
- The systems are also outfitted with AI that "can learn from your preferences and routine."
- Bumblebee Spaces was cofounded in 2017 by Tesla and Apple veteran Sankarshan Murthy.
- The company has four projects with San Francisco developers, one of which currently has two-bedrooms - that can be turned into three-bedrooms thanks to the startup's tech - available for around $5,000.
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There have been a bunch of daring propositions to counter San Francisco's - and other cities' - housing demand: underground bunk beds are one of the most recent that come to mind.
But Bumblebee Spaces is drawing inspiration from its namesake insect's penchant for space optimization and has designed systems that store furniture in the ceiling, which has traditionally been unused dead space.
The San Francisco-based startup builds modular ceiling systems to "unlock" living space and double or triple the utility in high-density, high-dollar-per-square-foot regions, "where space is a premium."
The furniture modules are 13 inches thick and organized Tetris-style against the ceiling - they aren't built into the concrete or drywall of a home. The company offers king and queen-size beds, nightstands, dressers, a desk, and deeper modules for storing things like luggage.
Katie Canales/Business Insider
A bed is seen lowering from the ceiling in a demo space.
The idea is that the systems can, for example, take a two-bedroom apartment and add a third room with the modules, one of which could be a privacy wall, cofounder Sankarshan Murthy told Business Insider. It could be three roommates that share the space or a couple, a family, or just one person.
"You can add and remove modules as the life changes inside," Murthy said.
Think of the startup as a furniture, storage, or - as Murthy called it - an "inner space" company. Solutions to storage problems continue to resonate with the market, Murthy said, from storage in the cloud to, now, storage in the ceilings.
Founded in 2017 by Garrett Rayner, Prahlad Athreya, and Murthy - a veteran of Apple and Tesla who worked on the Apple Watch and Model Y electric car - the company has raised $22 million in venture capital from firms like NTT, Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners, led by one of the first independent board members of Tesla.
The company recently gained some public attention after a now-deleted Craigslist ad went viral showing a $3,295-a-month studio apartment outfitted with its systems, with a bed that lowers from the ceiling, as SF Gate reported. Out-of-the-box contraptions that could help solve the city's housing crisis regularly generate buzz.
Bumblebee Spaces will sometimes work with homeowners to retrofit their homes, but the company mostly sells directly to multi-family developers that either own, operate, or develop apartments themselves. The startup focuses on retrofitting, but it's also working with some developers to architect the space around the ceiling systems, which could be cheaper overall.
"Why would you add a traditional closet when you can add Bumblebee wardrobes whenever you need?" Murthy said.
The startup has projects outside of the Bay Area, like in New York City, and four ongoing or planned projects with developers in San Francisco. The city could benefit from such a concept - housing is tight and there's not enough of it to meet demand.
To Murthy, there's something potentially wasteful about constantly building in two dimensions to meet housing needs. For people wanting a guest room to host family when they visit, to have a play area for their kids, or a space to entertain, it's only utilized occasionally.
"You don't need a room for that," he said. "You just bring down the room when you need it."
Here's how the Bumblebee Spaces systems work.
