Swimply pool

LOS ANGELES — Three years ago, Swimply made a big splash in Los Angeles when it introduced an app for people to rent private pools by the hour.

Now, it's expanding to pickleball and tennis courts. Launching Wednesday, the service will be available in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, New York, Austin and Houston before rolling out nationally by the end of summer.

"From the beginning, our mission was to take space that is meant to provide joy and happiness and connection and make sure we’re maximizing it to its fullest while giving access to people that do not come from as much to enjoy something they would dream of," said Swimply co-founder Bunim Laskin. "We focused on pools so we could perfect our craft and turn this magic into a science, and now we’re ready to expand beyond swimming pools and bring people together in more ways, starting with tennis and pickleball."

Similar to Airbnb, Swimply started as a platform to match private pools with people who want to rent them. Prices vary by location, but starting at around $30 hourly, Swimply users can book and use another person's private pool for 60 minutes. Since launching in New York City in 2019, Swimply has expanded to 125 U.S. cities and 10,000 private pools.

Tennis courts, Laskin said, are the second most requested type of space following pools. At launch, Swimply has 300 tennis and pickleball courts available. While owners set their own rates, prices average $40 per hour. Swimply makes its money taking a 15% cut from the host and charging renters a 10% fee.

Greg Podell is one of a handful of LA area tennis court owners who helped Swimply test its new Courts offering before it became widely available this week. For the past three months, he has also been renting his swimming pool.

"People love the space, and I love having them here," Podell said of his home in the Encino Hills. "I always look down at my tennis court and nobody's using it and I feel bad, and I no longer have to feel bad because it's a great space for people to use who love to play tennis."

Podell charges $30 per hour for his court and has a six-hour weekly minimum to attract tennis coaches. He offers a tennis ball machine as an amenity and also has a pickleball conversion kit.

Last weekend, he hosted a group lesson with 10 students.

"If people have private courts and they’re able to rent them out and give lessons on them, that's awesome," said Tucker Fortson, a high school tennis coach and tournament director.

"It could be a good alternative for sure," said Fortson, who teaches private lessons on public tennis courts that frequently have people waiting to use them and are "packed" on weekends.

"If more private courts were giving lessons, it would take coaches off the public parks and that would open the doors for regular people to come and play the game."

Los Angeles is Swimply's largest market, making up 25% of Swimply's bookings. Last year, the company relocated from New York City to Hollywood.

Swimply was born four years ago out of a problem co-founder Asher Weinberger was personally experiencing after he bought a house with a pool in Long Island, New York. Flooded with requests from every friend, neighbor and family member asking him to use it, he wanted a scheduling app to manage all the requests.

Then he met Laskin. At the time, Laskin was 21 years old and living in New Jersey. The oldest of 12 children, he was looking for a way to get his siblings out of his parents’ hair and noticed out of his bedroom window that a neighbor had a pool that was almost always empty. So he knocked on her door and offered to pay her a couple hundred dollars a week for a few hours of pool time each day. It wasn't long before word got out, and the entire neighborhood had cut the same deal.

The two decided to start a business together. They found four more pools in Laskin's neighborhood and signed them up for rentals. Then they built a website, raised $1.2 million and built an app that is now used throughout the U.S., Canada and Australia.

"We’re very excited about continuing our mission of democratizing luxury and connecting people in a really unique and meaningful way," Laskin said. "Our vision is to expand into anything that's awesome."

In addition to pools and racket courts, Swimply also plans to match basketball players with basketball courts and other outdoor enthusiasts with rooftops and backyards. While the focus is currently on outdoor activities, Laskin said Swimply will eventually bring the concept indoors, renting home gyms and music studios.