Inflatable pools and pool rentals are surging in popularity this summer. | Getty Images

Activity boxes and inflatable pools replace summer camp and trips to the beach.

In early March, as fears about the coronavirus mounted across the US, Swimply — a swimming-pool-sharing startup that’s sort of like an aquatic Airbnb — saw its business slow to a trickle. Around 20 percent of its 3,300 hosts paused bookings, and the company was forced to hit the brakes on a “pretty significant” funding round it had planned to close before the summer, says Asher Weinberger, Swimply’s co-founder and chief marketing officer.

Just as the team started to regroup and figure out a plan for the crisis, however, the trend reversed course and bookings began flooding in.

“People were reaching out and saying, ‘Hey, I’ve been stuck at home with my kids for the last