Digital laundry start-up outlines expansion plans

After its launch early this month, the first digital laundry services provider in the country, eLocker PH, is aiming to expand this year with more tie-ups and more lockers to be set up in various locations all over Cebu.

Randy Piramide, eLocker Ph founder and lead developer, said they hope to put up 20 lockers, which is actually 10 “smaller lockers” each in various locations in Cebu.

The lockers are where clients can drop off or pick up their laundry when they avail of the the services of eLocker PH.

Piramide said eLocker offers 24/7 digital laundry services through lockers placed strategically in condominiums, apartment buildings, as well as public places such as gas stations and mall parking lots, which are a better alternative in dropping and picking up a person’s laundry.

“Right now, laundry shops have limited business hours, which makes it difficult for busy clients to drop off or pick up their laundry,” he said in a recent press briefing at the JSU-PSU Mariner’s Court, where the first locker of eLocker PH is located.

Fiona Mae Villamor, eLocker communications head, said all customers have to do is drop off or pick up their laundry at the lockers and transact online or through SMS.

Piramide, who is originally from Leyte, served as IT director of Capitol University in Cagayan de Oro City from 1989 to 2002.

He moved to Cebu in 2012 and joined a BPO company before starting Laba Masters laundry shop the following year.

Laba Masters now has two branches in Talisay City, southern Cebu.

Instead of expanding his laundry business by opening more shops, he decided to venture into a tech start-up since he believes technology can make day-to-day tasks — like getting laundry done — more convenient.

The other members of the eLocker team are Amicar Piramide (co-founder), Elymar Nadela (web developer), and Joevanni Parilla (graphic designer).

Piramide said eLocker offers order tracking and comprehensive clothes tagging through Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.

“This will finally get rid of problems on mix-ups or lost clothes,” he explained.

Clients can check the status of their order and even verify the clothes they’ve dropped off in their account dashboard, he added.

Piramide spent P20,000 to P25,000 for the locker as well as for website development and other marketing collaterals.

There have been informal initial investments on the start-up from friends, but they are also open to other investors.

As the startup expands to more locations and buildings, he said they also plan to partner with other laundry shops aside from Laba Masters.