When we started Stora, we set out to build self storage software. Somewhere along the way, that changed. Not because we planned it, but because our customers showed us what they actually needed.
They didn't just need a platform to manage units and take payments. They needed something that would help them open new sites, grow faster, operate more efficiently, and compete in an industry that's changing rapidly. They needed infrastructure, not just software.
That shift in thinking is the reason we now power close to 30% of self storage sites in the UK. And it's the reason we're now going all-in on Europe.
What we mean by infrastructure
The best way I can explain it is through what our customers tell us.
We hear the same thing over and over again: Stora wasn't just a tool they adopted — it was a critical part of them establishing their business, growing it, and running it day to day. New operators launch on Stora and are taking bookings within minutes. Growing operators use it to open their second, third, tenth site. Enterprise operators use it to manage portfolios across multiple countries and complex ownership structures.
That didn't happen by accident. It happened because we think about the whole picture — not just the software layer, but everything an operator needs to build a better business. How they price. How they take payments. How they communicate with customers. How they report to investors. How they handle compliance. How they think about AI.
Every self storage business is limited by the capability and ambition of the platform they choose to partner with. If your platform isn't thinking about what's coming next, you're already falling behind.
The vision: where self storage is going
Every business is becoming a technology-led business. Self storage is no exception.
The operators who win over the next five years will be the ones who build a genuine technology advantage. The ones who don't will find themselves competing on price alone — and that's a race to the bottom.
We think about this constantly. How does AI change the way a self storage business actually operates? How do operators move from gut-feel pricing to genuine revenue intelligence? How does the platform they use become the operating system for their entire business, not just the management layer?
These are the questions driving every product decision we make. Some of the answers are already live in the product. Some we're building now. Some are further out. But the direction is clear: we're building Stora to help operators run more automated, more intelligent, more profitable businesses, with less manual admin and more time to focus on growth.
One example of where we've already made real progress: our API. It's the most flexible and capable API in self storage, and we've barely scratched the surface of what it enables. For enterprise operators and PE-backed groups, this matters enormously. Stora plugs into your existing tech stack, your reporting tools, your access control systems, your investor dashboards. You're not locked into a closed ecosystem. You can build on top of Stora in ways that no other platform in the industry currently supports.
That's the kind of infrastructure we're building. Not just features — foundations that our customers can build on.
Why Europe, why now
We've spent the past few years cementing our position in the UK, and we're proud of what we've built here. But over the past six to nine months, the numbers in France started to stand out.
Our French business has more than quadrupled in the past 12 months. It's growing faster than the UK did at the same stage. We didn't set out to crack France — our French customers found us.
That gave us the confidence to ask: can we replicate what happened in the UK across Europe?
We think the answer is yes. And we think the timing is right.
France is the largest continental European self storage market by total space. Germany is the second largest. Spain, the Netherlands, the Nordics — all growing, all underserved by technology. When we look at what's available to operators in these countries, we haven't found a platform taking the same approach: building AI-native automation, deep pricing intelligence, and a genuine infrastructure layer for European self storage, not just translated management software.
There's a real opportunity here — for Stora, but more importantly for the operators in these markets. They deserve better tools, and we think we can help.
We don't pretend to have all the answers for every European market. But we know how to listen, and we know how to build. That combination has worked well for us in the UK, and we hope it can work across Europe too.
We already have the foundation
This isn't a cold start. We already have fast-growing customers across France, Germany, Spain, and the Nordics. They're the ones teaching us what each market needs, and their feedback is shaping every feature we build for European operators. Things like bank ID, local credit checks, country-specific payment methods, multi-currency support and access control integrations with Sensorberg, Sedisto, Vauban, MyLock and mSpaceLock — these are live in the product today because our existing European customers needed them.
We're also in a position to pass on real advantages. We're likely the largest payment processor in UK self storage, possibly in European self storage. That scale gives us access to processing rates that we pass on to our customers. We see our customers' businesses in a way that few others can, and there's a lot more we can do with that over time.
What comes next
We're hiring on the ground in Germany and France. We're building Stora so it's genuinely adapted for each market — the right tax handling, the right invoicing formats, the right payment methods, the right tone. We're visiting customers and industry associations. We're investing heavily in AI and automation because European operators deserve the same pace of innovation that's been driving our UK customers forward.
But more than anything, we want to learn. We want to sit with operators in France, Germany, Spain, and the Nordics and hear about their challenges firsthand, and to talk to and learn from suppliers, consultants and industry leaders right across Europe. That's how we built Stora into what it is today. We want to do exactly the same thing across Europe.
If you're involved in self storage anywhere in Europe, whether you're running one site or fifty or working alongside those who do, we'd love to hear from you. Tell us what you need. Tell us what's broken. Tell us what you wish your software could do.
Wir freuen uns auf den Austausch. Au plaisir d'échanger.
