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Interview: German startup ZipJet takes innovative approach to tackling London’s laundry

Launched in October 2014, ZipJet’s innovative business model aims help London’s busy workers manage their ever-growing laundry baskets. In a world where there’s an app for everything, I’m not surprised that this startup has popped up in the capital, offering a convenient and bespoke customer experience for the capital’s workers.

Founded by entrepreneurs Florian Färber and Lorenzo Franzi, ZipJet has recently launched in London with backing from internet startup support company, Rocket Internet.

“The idea of ZipJet actually came from a personal necessity,” Lorenz told me. “Back when I was working as a banker and a consultant I was struggling to find time to get my laundry done.

“We saw the changes that were happening in the grocery, food delivery and taxi industries and we thought that the convenience of the laundry and dry cleaning world deserved to be tackled too, so we started ZipJet.”

Having spotted a gap in the market, Lorenzo and Florian trialled the startup in Berlin, before launching in London this year. ZipJet currently employs 40 people, 30 in Germany and 10 in London.

Working with Rocket Internet has allowed ZipJet to explore the marketplace and finetune its approach before the London launch, Lorenzo explained: “Best practice and knowledge sharing from other Rocket Internet ventures has been extremely helpful. We’ve also had support from Rocket’s central functions in technology and marketing.”

ZipJet isn’t the only startup offering an app-led on-demand laundry and dry cleaning service, but Lorenzo believe the increasing competition is healthy for the marketplace and believes ZipJet’s unique offering is enough to ensure they stand out from the crowd.

“We have two types of competition in London; one in the form of companies that are of similar size to us, and the other in the form of a series of small competitors who were there before us and continue to pop up. We believe that this is a large market however, so there’s room for more than one player.”

Lorenzo continued: “We aim to differentiate ourselves by focusing on convenience for our consumers. We do this by committing to 30-minute pick up time windows, and a 24-hour turn around.

“Customers are also not required to itemise their clothes, so can simply throw their dry cleaning into one ZipJet bag, and their laundry in the other. None of our competitors can boast such ease and accessibility for their customers.”

In an ever-changing industry, Lorenzo recognises the importance of staying ahead of the curve.

“More and more regulations are being put in place to control the chemical products being used in the dry cleaning,” he explained. “This is pushing more of the cleaning to happen in industrialised locations rather than in high street dry cleaners.

“The continued increase in rent for commercial real estate is another factor making it harder for the local shops and increasing the shift towards these industrial sites.

“At ZipJet, we transport the clothes to and from the dry cleaning locations, thus cancelling out the necessity to rent expensive real estate. “

Focusing on its two core cities of London and Berlin, ZipJet is hoping to continue expansion, while monitoring potential market places across the continent. Lorenzo concluded: “We have our sights set on cities across Europe, so 2016 will be an exciting year of growth and expansion for us.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .