Airattix’s Aditya Kale on Building a Full-Stack Storage Marketplace, Cracking Unit Economics, and Scaling Trust

StartupTalky presents Recap'25, a series of exclusive interviews where we connect with founders and industry leaders to reflect on their journey in 2025 and discuss their vision for the future.

In this edition of Recap’25, StartupTalky speaks with Aditya Kale, Founder & CEO of Airattix, about how the company has evolved from a simple storage discovery platform into a full-stack, tech-enabled storage marketplace. Kale shares how a key strategic decision—moving beyond listings to deeply integrate operations, data intelligence, and SLA-backed host partnerships—helped Airattix scale without owning assets, while still delivering enterprise-grade reliability.

He discusses what a “healthy” host location looks like in marketplace economics, how Airattix balances supply and demand while maintaining deep trust for customers storing valuables, and how AI-driven demand forecasting and space matching are shaping pricing and utilisation strategies. Looking ahead to 2026, Kale outlines Airattix’s focus on building governance alongside growth, strengthening regulatory readiness, and making storage feel as seamless and accessible as “an extra cupboard” for SMEs, D2C brands, and households across India.

StartupTalky: Reflecting on 2025, how has your original vision for the storage marketplace evolved, and which single decision had the most significant impact on your scale?

Aditya Kale: Reflecting on 2025, our original vision for the storage marketplace has evolved from being a pure storage discovery platform to becoming a full-stack storage marketplace that solves for availability, flexibility, and operational efficiency across the supply chain. What started as a way to solve a simple but pressing problem that is limited space in an increasingly premium real estate marketplace. As the demand for smart storage grew, so did the idea of creating a flexible, tech-enabled storage platform that goes beyond the limitations of traditional facilities. 

The single decision that had the most significant impact on our scale was moving beyond listings to deeply integrate operations and technology. By investing early in data-driven capacity mapping, SLA-backed partnerships with warehouse owners, and flexible short-term and distributed storage models, we unlocked trust on both sides of the marketplace. This allowed us to scale faster without being constrained by asset ownership, while still delivering enterprise-grade reliability.

That shift fundamentally changed how customers perceived us, not as an intermediary, but as a storage infrastructure partner aligned with their growth.

StartupTalky: Since marketplaces often break at the unit-economics level, what does a "healthy" host location look like for you today in terms of margins and stability?

Aditya Kale: At Airattix, a "healthy" host location is one that has steady operations, sustainable economics, and predictable utilisation. From a unit economics perspective, this means steady demand throughout the year, reducing the need for short peak cycles and allowing host partners to consistently extract value from otherwise underutilised space.

A healthy location in terms of margins is one where the marketplace can sustainably cover the costs of service enablement, quality assurance, and onboarding while guaranteeing that hosts receive a noticeable premium over conventional long-term leasing models. Stability is equally important, as evidenced by low partner attrition, recurring use from anchor clients, and steady adherence to service requirements concerning turnaround times, safety, and access.

StartupTalky: How did you balance supply and demand in 2025 while ensuring the high levels of trust required for users to leave valuables in another person's space?

In 2025, balancing supply and demand at Airattix went hand in hand with building deep, non-negotiable trust. On the supply side, we were deliberate about onboarding, prioritising quality over rapid expansion. Every host location went through structured verification, physical audits, and clear operating standards before being activated on the platform. This ensured that supply entering the marketplace was dependable, compliant, and ready for scale.

On the demand side, we prioritised long-term client relationships and business over one-time deals in order to anchor volumes. As a result, we were able to avoid sharp mismatches by activating supply in a phased, data-led manner and receiving clearer demand signals.

Transparent pricing, well-defined service commitments, insurance coverage, and real-time visibility into storage conditions and access all served to strengthen trust. We made sure users felt comfortable storing valuable goods in locations they did not own by combining operational governance, technology-backed accountability, and disciplined supply activation, all the while maintaining a resilient and balanced marketplace.

StartupTalky: How are you integrating AI or data intelligence into your platform to optimize pricing and space matching as you head into 2026?

As we head into 2026, AI and data intelligence are becoming central to how we optimise both pricing and space matching. We use demand forecasting models to analyse booking patterns, seasonality, location-specific demand, and dwell time, allowing us to price storage dynamically while maintaining fairness for both hosts and customers. On the supply side, data intelligence helps us match goods to spaces based on factors such as size, access frequency, security requirements, and duration of storage.

Beyond pricing and matching, these insights guide how we activate new locations, improve utilisation, and reduce idle capacity across the network. Over time, this intelligence layer also enables predictive planning, helping us anticipate demand shifts and ensure the right capacity is available in the right locations, strengthening marketplace efficiency and reliability.

StartupTalky:  What were the most significant operational or regulatory challenges you faced this year, and what key lessons will inform your strategy for 2026?

In 2025, the most significant challenges were centred on operational standardisation and navigating regulatory uncertainty in a rapidly emerging category. As an aggregator unlocking underutilised private and commercial spaces, ensuring consistent service quality across locations required rigorous verification processes, clearly defined operating frameworks, and continuous host enablement. Delivering the same level of reliability across diverse geographies was critical to building user trust at scale.

At the same time, regulations governing storage, parking, and short-term space usage vary widely across cities and are often evolving, making proactive compliance and close stakeholder engagement essential. The key takeaway for 2026 is the importance of building governance alongside growth. Early investments in process discipline, compliance readiness, and technology-led monitoring have strengthened trust across the ecosystem. Going forward, the focus will be on deeper standardisation, closer collaboration with local authorities, and scalable systems that support responsible expansion while maintaining agility in a dynamic regulatory environment.

StartupTalky: What notable shifts in customer behavior or storage use cases did you observe in 2025 that will define your expansion into new markets in 2026?

The year 2025 marked the beginning of the changing trend of customer behaviour that will influence our expansion in 2026. The customers still highlighted value and convenience as their priorities, and they took time to weigh their options instead of strictly cutting down their budgets. Also, the customers wanted digital that was smooth and trustworthy, and this was the case even when the mood was still wary. A large number of customers were switching between doing research online and going to stores, a situation that proved to be convenient and reassuring at the same time, and this method of discovering and booking storage online was being used by many customers.

Meanwhile, the digital that was once resistant has now become a habit, and trust in the platforms is still a major issue, as the customers are depending on various factors such as reviews, peer opinions, and proven performance. Besides, the trend is towards local and customised services rather than the usual, particularly when people are in the process of moving to urban areas, changing their lifestyles, or have different usage needs. All these trends help to secure our commitment to tech-enabled discovery, flexible fulfilment, and reliably verified spaces as we step into new markets in 2026.

StartupTalky: What are your top three strategic priorities for 2026 regarding your product roadmap, market penetration, and long-term user retention?

Our plan is to build a smart, end-to-end storage platform that brings real-time visibility into storage availability, pricing, and inventory, ensuring that no square foot remains underutilised. By onboarding idle and underused storage spaces, the company is creating a trusted, scalable storage network designed to become the preferred solution for SMEs, D2C brands, and households alike.

Beyond access, the focus is on to drive long-term user retention by delivering a reliable, effortless storage experience with easily accessible, valued-added tools, so storage becomes part of customer’s day-to-day life, not a one-time need. The storage platform should feel familiar and accessible, like an extra cupboard, garage, or spare room that customers can use anytime and anywhere, without any planning. 

Beyond access, the focus is on long-term user retention through a reliable, effortless storage experience supported by intuitive, value-added tools. The goal is for storage to feel familiar and always available much like an extra cupboard, garage, or spare room accessible anytime, anywhere, without planning, friction, or complexity.

StartupTalky: What is one actionable "hard truth" or tip you would share with other marketplace founders about maintaining discipline and profitability while scaling?

One hard truth for marketplace founders is that scaling magnifies whatever is already broken. Growth can temporarily mask weak unit economics, operational gaps, or misaligned incentives, but over time these issues surface and erode profitability. Chasing volume or expansion without discipline often leads to higher costs, lower trust, and fragile margins.

An actionable takeaway is to treat every addition to the marketplace as a sustainability decision, not just a growth opportunity. New supply, customers, or geographies should meet clear benchmarks around utilisation, service quality, and cost efficiency early on. Maintaining discipline in pricing, onboarding, and operations may slow expansion in the short term, but it creates a more resilient marketplace. In the long run, consistent fundamentals matter far more than rapid scale, and profitability follows platforms that prioritise repeatability, trust, and operational rigour from the start.

Explore more Recap'25 interviews here.