Appear Here
Website
Founded
2012
Industry
Retail and venue marketplace
Markets
UK, Amsterdam, Paris, New York, Miami, LA
History
Appear Here was borne out of entrepreneur Ross Bailey’s inadvertent foray into pop-up retail space: launching a brand called Rock and Rule intended to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee in a pop-up shop in Soho, Ross was quickly confronted with the same question time and time again… “How did you find this place?”.
Realising the unsatiated demand for short-term retail lets, Ross took the profits from Rock and Rule (when it closed in 2012) and launched Appear Here, an online marketplace for pop-up retail shops. He set the aim “To create a world where anyone with an idea can find space to make it happen”, and ran with it. Appear Here began to work toward this vision and ensure that commercial space could be rented and booked as easily as a hotel room could be.
By November 2013, Appear Here closed a £1million funding round and could boast some prestigious backers. A year after that, a further £5million was raised to facilitate international expansion and the company launched in Paris, France in 2016. From then on, it seemed to be a milestone a year, with an American launch in 2017 and $12million Series B funding.
Appear Here has continued to innovate and hosted some exciting collaborations already, even in its infancy. Together with Transport for London, the brand transformed Old Street Station into a pop-up retail space and has accommodated the likes of Adidas, Calvin Klein and Netflix. Concession space for the world-famous Oxford Street flagship store of Topshop was made bookable online through Appear Here, and an important partnership with Unicef’s Next Generation programme saw Imad Alarnab, a Syrian refugee, open his own restaurant in London.
The future is set to be bright for Appear Here, and it continues to innovate, adapt and excel in all its business practices.
Key selling points:
- A ‘sharing economy’ model of collaborative business practices
- Unique bookable spaces and opportunities to offer fantastic marketing opportunities
- Secure online digital bookings
- An on-hand concierge team
- Worldwide operations and expertise