Boxful: No more cramped spaces

This company enters Hong Kong storage wars.

When Hong Kong was dubbed a “very crowded place”, many startups thought of providing additional living space for households. Entering the integrated logistic service, Boxful aims to revolutionize the traditional storage model by allowing their customers to visualize and manage all their physical items at the tip of their fingers, without ever leaving their home.

Founded by former investment banker Norman Cheung, 32, Boxful claims to be the largest on-demand storage service provider dedicated to convenient, affordable and secure self-storage for homes and offices in Hong Kong. For as little as HK$49 per box – the cost of a cup of coffee – users can place their physical belongings in secure storage that is easily accessible through Boxful’s intuitive mobile and online platform.

“We provide free door-to-door pick-up and retrieval services as fast as the next day. Customers can also keep track of their items and boxes by taking photos and uploading the images onto our online system. Very simply: Boxful is cloud storage for your physical items,” says Norman.

Unlike other self-storage companies, Boxful restricts any third-party access to their warehouse - this allows the company to save money on visual decoration and reinvest more money into their logistics and security infrastructure. As a result, Boxful offers a free door-to-door valet service (including pick up and delivery).

Boxful being a logistics company, Norman said they don’t take risks especially when it comes to their customers’ valuable possessions. He reveals that, “Shortly after launch, we found ourselves in a situation where our trucks could not meet the demand of our customers. The founders and the team had to take on the delivery responsibility, including spending the entire weekend running around town delivering and picking up boxes. We found this an extremely rewarding experience, because it allowed us to understand better the needs of our customers and gain insight in how we can further optimize our operations. The founding team still does delivery as much as possible,” says Norman.

Boxful was initially funded by its founders. Around the time of the company’s launch, they closed a seeding round of US$1.5m from a group of Greater China investors, including Antony Leung (former financial secretary of Hong Kong) and influential family offices and corporates in the region.

For startups wanting to be featured, send your message to Lee Anne Babierra at [email protected]