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31 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,F ebruary 7,2019 theifp.ca Canada's Largest Golf Show February 8-10, 2019 International Centre TICKETS ON SALE torontogolfshow.com USE THE CODE GOLF2019 TO RECEIVE $3 OFF TICKETS ONLINE! • DEMO RANGE • CASH FOR CLUBS • LIVE AUCTION • LEADING INSTRUCTORS • 5000 ROUNDS GIVEAWAY • HEALTH HUB PAVILLION PRESENTEDBY 22NDANNUAL SUHAAG SHOW INTERNATIONAL CENTRE 416.716.5793 / 416.876.9779 WWW.SUHAAG.COM SAVE THE DATE FEBRUARY 10, 2019 North America's LARGEST SOUTH ASIAN Fashion + Jewellery & Bridal Event Sarah Selhi detests wasted space. For the Georgetown na- tive, the thought of trees be- ing cut down, or green space being paved over to make room for a parking lot - or better yet, a self-storage unit - is maddening. What's even more unbe- lievable, she adds, is to hear about the excessive amounts of money people pay to store their items away, which is how her idea for a new kind of space- sharing platform came to be. When Selhi heard that CBC's Dragons' Den was holding one last audition in Toronto before the end of their tour in May of last year, she took a chance in the hopes of spreading awareness about her busi- ness across Canada. Then she landed a spot on TV - and a sizable deal. Selhi's platform Spa- ceiShare.com allows home- owners with extra room to spare to connect with near- by residents looking for storage space at a reason- able price. Her customer service representatives, also known as "matchmakers," help owners post their list- ings and aid in pairing up those providing the space and those looking for a place to store their belong- ings. In terms of security, SpaceiShare has an insur- ance policy through Lloyd's of London. "We provide the legal documents. We ask the peo- ple to make a list of what they are storing and what the estimated value of the stored items are. And then we will cover up to $5,000 for that," she said. SpaceiShare also re- quires both owners and renters to take photos of the items being stored, so that they are properly doc- umented. "We wanted to get Cana- da excited about the idea of sharing space," she said, adding that space can be defined as many things from a garage, to a parking spot to a piece of land or ce- ment. About a week after a busy day of auditions in To- ronto, Selhi discovered she got selected to pitch. Before she knew it, she and her colleagues Niall Traynor (Chief Financial Officer) and Paolo Spiluttini (VP of marketing) were in front of the "dragons." Their presentation snagged them two deals in the end, but they chose Mi- chele Romanow's offer of $125,000 for a 15 per cent stake in the company - 5 per cent more than their initial asking. "It was nerve-racking ... it is this up and down roller- coaster and so by the time it comes down to the deci- sion, you kind of have the sense that maybe one or two may be interested in the idea, but you don't real- ly know for sure," she said. "It was great that we ended up having two." Selhi plans to put the funding toward a number of improvements, includ- ing hiring more match- makers and developers, as well as ramping up the marketing. "We need to let more people know about it," she said. To learn more about SpaceiShare, visit https:// spaceishare.com/. To view the Dragons' Den pitch, go to https://www.cbc.ca/ dragonsden/pitches/spa- ceishare.The episode ran on Jan. 17, 2019. NEWS GEORGETOWN NATIVE GETS SIZABLE DEAL ON DRAGONS' DEN SARAH SELHI'S SPACE-SHARING PLATFORM PITCH SNAGGED HER TWO DEALS FROM THE 'DRAGONS.' VERONICA APPIA vappia@metroland.com Sarah Selhi pitches to the "dragons" in May 2018. CBC/photo