Loloft Secures Funding and Opens First Location

Loloft, a Northwest Arkansas-based Startup, Combining Co-working with Micro-warehousing, Secures Funding and Opens First Location

Loloft, a new concept in flexible micro-warehousing, today announced that it raised $1M in funding and is opening its first location in Rogers, Arkansas, across from the original Walmart store. 

In addition to local capital, Loloft has received investment from Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, led by Revolution Chairman and CEO and AOL Co-Founder Steve Case. Loloft was recently selected as the latest investment as part of Rise of the Rest’s Northwest Arkansas spotlight. The fund invests catalytic capital in the most promising seed-stage companies located outside of Silicon Valley, New York City, and Boston. Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund is backed by a group of iconic entrepreneurs, executives, and investors including members of the Walton Family. Loloft was also supported early in the round by local investors including Jeff Amerine.

Loloft addresses the growing demand for warehousing by offering spaces from 150 SF to 5,000 SF all under one climate-controlled roof and operates in a similar way to a normal coworking business by offering all-inclusive pricing and move-in ready spaces. Amenities include WiFi, meeting rooms, phone booths, loading dock access, daily carrier pickups, and flexible terms starting at 3-months. Also included is a free unloading service so members don’t need their own forklift or pallet trucks, and they don’t even need to be on-site to receive shipments.

The pandemic has accelerated the rise of e-commerce and the demise of brick-and-mortar retail. The consumer appetite for online shopping has increased revenue for existing sellers and created opportunities for new entrants into the market; this increased activity has put pressure on warehousing, distribution, and logistics inside the US and globally. 

Loloft was born out of necessity. In 2020 the cofounders, Brendan Howell and Paola Ibarra relocated from Miami to Rogers for their previous company. “We were looking to rent a small warehouse space for an online business but quickly discovered that most properties were too large for us and the owners required a 3–5-year lease commitment,” said Brendan Howell, Loloft CEO. “With the help of Marshall Saviers, from Cushman & Wakefield Sage Partners, we built a 2,000 SF micro-assembly operation inside a 280,000 SF warehouse. Just after we opened other businesses in the area started approaching us asking if they could also take space, anywhere from 500 SF to 5,000 SF,” said Howell. 

After talking with a number of commercial realtors, the Loloft cofounders realized that there is a lot of demand for smaller industrial spaces. Additionally, many companies are now looking for flexible leasing terms to help reduce their fixed operating costs to allow them to scale up or down to meet market demands; there is a disconnect between what’s available and what the market now wants. “The easiest way to describe Loloft is to think WeWork combined with warehousing to create this new concept we call ‘Industrial Coworking,’ said Howell.

Loloft is due to open its first location, “Loloft x.001” on February 28, 2022. The 45,000 SF space is in Rogers, Arkansas situated directly across the street from Walmart Store #1, the very first Walmart in the world. “Demand for our micro-warehouse spaces is strong, 50% percent of our available inventory is already pre-sold,” said Howell. Loloft partnered with the property owner, prominent businessman, Bryan Hunt, to develop location x.001. Loloft has received significant support from Startup Junkie, the University of Arkansas, Northwest Arkansas Council, and the Rogers-Lowell Chamber of Commerce. 

NWA is the birthplace of a number of world-changing companies, including Walmart, Tyson Foods, and J.B. Hunt Transport. Key figures in the region have created strategies to respond to current and future workforce needs by developing a strong ecosystem to support startups that are creating innovative solutions to respond to consumer demands and global supply chain needs. NWA is a rising start-up destination and hub of innovation, making it the perfect home for Loloft. 

According to its CEO, Loloft is looking to expand rapidly by opening more than 20 locations across the US within the next 12 months. The vision is to build the ultimate flexible last-mile supply chain by opening locations that enable online sellers to quickly deliver goods to their customers, while also creating a thriving community of like-minded individuals and synergistic businesses.

For inquiries, please contact Brendan Howell, CEO +1 415 767 6364, brendan@loloft.com