STRT Announces Closing of Seed Financing

STRT, Inc. a leader in the design and operation of living and working accommodations, announced it has raised an undisclosed seed round of financing led by Celtic Investment, Inc., Sentry Investments LLC and 4-D Investments LLC.

Launched in early 2019, STRT has developed a new living and working concept focused on the user experience of entrepreneurs and creatives. STRT will combine coliving, coworking and startup accelerator services into each property. The uniquely designed spaces are created to foster creativity and collaboration.

The STRT concept is built around addressing new trends in how people work and live. As more people identify as entrepreneurs, freelancers and creatives, a new set of solutions is needed, particularly as housing costs spiral out of control. Office space firms such as WeWork and Industrious as well as living space providers like Common and The Collective are leveraging the sharing economy to provide solutions. STRT's innovative design takes this idea to the next level by bringing even more into the experience of a single property.

"Imagine if you could take the elements of Silicon Valley that make entrepreneurs successful – creativity, passion, talent, capital – and then make it accessible without having to move to the Bay Area," said founder Troy D'Ambrosio. "STRT has developed a building design, programming and resources that provide access to this environment for entrepreneurs located anywhere."

"Talent is distributed everywhere yet the overwhelming amount of venture capital is concentrated in a few areas dominated by Silicon Valley. This bubble creates a barrier for both entrepreneurs and investors alike," said Victor Gill, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. "STRT is about providing entrepreneurs access to other talented people and connecting them with the capital and the resources they need to grow."

STRT Nodes merge coliving, coworking, accelerator services and capital under one roof eliminating the need for the founding team to find these resources on their own. Each STRT Node will bring talented people together in one location – a mini-city creating the future.

"The STRT concept creates a town of entrepreneurs. A place where people live, eat, work and create together. The result is more than the sum of the parts. Our goal is to take the STRT concept to 50 or more cities and bring access to entrepreneurs everywhere," said Troy D'Ambrosio.

Amenities at STRT properties will focus on the needs of creatives and entrepreneurs and will be all-inclusive providing data services, cleaning, working space, meeting rooms and a cafe.

Access to capital will be a key amenity. STRT will invest in promising startups developed in STRT Nodes and bring in its network of affiliate investors to co-invest in those select companies. STRT is focused on long term development. "We will have the opportunity to watch startup teams develop and grow over months. At the right time we will begin working with them if they need to raise capital and co-invest with our affiliate investors," said Victor Gill.

STRT is finalizing plans to bring these unique properties to several markets. Qualified Opportunity Zones are a key area of interest for STRT Nodes. Opportunity Zones offer resources, developer interest and a mechanism to catalyze an area while attracting the ideal talent to a STRT Node.