Local start-up GoGoVan is going places
A local start-up that matches freelance van drivers with customers in need of transport has taken off in the city, with plans to go global, writes Mark Sharp
In a cramped office in an old Kwun Tong Industrial building, Steven Lam Hoi-yuen and his partners toil for up to 19 hours a day, seven days a week, on their technology-driven logistics start-up. The 100 sq ft space is shared by several co-founders and employees.
This is the control hub of GoGoVan, a mobile application that hooks up freelance truck drivers with individuals or businesses that need goods moving. Customers can hire the services of a driver with anything from a light-goods vehicle to a 16-tonne truck within seconds.
It cuts out the need to phone any of the 100-plus call centres that drivers pay to use, and avoids the lengthy delays that ensue. Despite having its own fleet of vans, furniture and homeware chain PriceRite is now using GoGoVan for same-day deliveries.
"Small or medium-sized businesses move stuff around all the time," Lam, the CEO of GoGoVan, says. "As for households, they buy chairs, sofas, refrigerators, or they want to move something to another apartment. A 42-inch flat-screen TV doesn't fit in a taxi, so they need to rent a van. There's a lot of demand."
More than 12,000 drivers have downloaded the app since it was launched in July, and 7,000 have been vetted and registered. Around 100,000 potential users have also downloaded it.
"The drivers show us they are qualified, send us photos of their van, and we decide whether it's in suitable condition," Lam says. Team members then spend time on the road with the drivers to determine whether they are safe and reliable.