Bobobox was founded in 2017 with its innovative hi-tech facilities of accommodations with the vision of being the world’s best recharging facilities provider for everyone to get quality rest.
Indra and Antonius, the founder of the Bobobox, were childhood friends. It all started before 2005.
When Indra came back to his hometown due to his father’s sudden health issues “this is how entrepreneurship started in my life”, Indra said.
Indra and Antonius were business partners since they both were at the Melbourne university of Australia after they became good friends.
In addition, after failing in their start-up, they both decided to step back and find a good job for a stable career.
But after the birth of Indra’s first daughter, the enterprise itch came back and two friends started looking to build their own business.
“We realized that to create an impactful product and solution, it should be a product that can be a lifestyle for many people”, said Indra.
And they thought accommodation can be a great entry point to introduce the solutions.
Initially, they started in Japan, Singapore, and then New york. But they noticed some key points while they require a big amount of capital to start new accommodations.
So, Indra came up with the idea of prefabricated modular capsules that could be installed easily.
After that, he explained the idea to his partner. In the beginning, he was not ready to go ahead with this but eventually he convinced him and that was the beginning of the Bobobox adventure.
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Recent update: Bobobox raised $11.5 million in funding round A
In 2020, the last funding series was closed at $11.5 million in funding series A led by Horizons Ventures, and Alpha JWC Ventures including their existing investors KaKao investments who have participated in the round.
The funding was used to expand its new accommodation services. Currently, the company has added six new locations in three cities which include Bandung, Jakarta, and Semarang.
In addition, the company is operating in almost eight buildings with 500+ pods in total. However, the average occupancy rate is 80%-90% pre-COVID.
Even after the pandemic, the company is doing well while compared with its peers. Its occupancy rate has fallen to 50%-60% in march.
Image sources: Kraisa
“Despite the turbulence due to the pandemic, we are grateful that we can still lock in investment from global investors.
Our discipline to maintain strong unit economics across all branches is what makes it an attractive investment opportunity.
Our lean operating model also allows us to maintain a low burn rate, so we have a longer, sturdier runway ahead, compared to traditional accommodation players,” says Indra, co-founder of the Bobobox.
In the changing circumstances, the company manages to adopt quick changes. This is one of the positive points that keep Bobobox alive in situations like COVID-19.
In Covid-19, Bobobox contactless staying facilities have become a new trend. As they are maintaining hygiene standards by daily sanitizing the rooms.
Compared to traditional hotels, the Bobobox hotel requires far less capital to establish.
An alternative accommodation using technology
Currently, bobobox has divided its accommodation plan into three different categories which is bobocabin, boboliving, and bobovan.
Bobobox hotel capsules are enabled with technological facilities of around 9 square meters. In the beginning, the hotels remained empty but as the hotel converted into capsule hotels.
The concept became trending and people started coming in the bobobox. Meanwhile, bobobox is involved in different business models.
The clients who choose to bobobox are millenniums and young people said, Indra. According to him, mostly all the customers were from local or domestic marketplaces, as there has been a lack of international travelers since the pandemic.
While there are many pleasure travelers in big cities like Bandung and Samaran, business travelers make up the majority of visitors there.
Up to 25% of clients are locals who wish to visit on weekends and some others want to study in a quiet spot with a fast internet connection, according to him. This is another indicator of lifestyle changes.
However, a crucial component of Bobobox is technology. The platform that the business is creating has been interwoven into every space.
Clients may book their rooms, pay the bill, and check in and out from their phones thanks to the hotel’s proprietary management system, which makes the procedure simple.
Customers can use an app to control amenities within each pod or cabin as well as use a QR code to open and lock individual pod doors.
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Final words
Although, using technological solutions like the IoT Bobobox is bringing innovative changes in the accommodation industry, which is expected to grow in the upcoming years.
As per the report, “the global hotel market size is valued at $1.52 trillion in 2019 and expected to grow around $2.06 trillion by 2023.”
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