In collaboration with Sunway iLabs, Disruptr will be featuring 10 startups who have made it to the Top 10 of the LaunchX 2023 programme.
Supported by the Ministry of Higher Education, LaunchX, the first University Startups Accelerator Programme in Malaysia, has recently unveiled the top ten university startups selected from its pre-accelerator phase. This equity-free, no-strings-attached 3+2-month program focuses on empowering budding entrepreneurs to achieve key milestones and take their startups to the next level.
The 2nd startup to be featured is RapidBarber, a platform enabling users to book appointments for home visit haircuts and grooming.
Personal care matters. Whether it’s grooming for the skin or a simple haircut, there is no denying these basic needs have also grown into providing opportunities for budding entrepreneurs to create a basic out of them.
In recent years, we have seen a rise in startups within the grooming industry focusing on personal care. While these startups offer products to help more individuals care for themselves from the comforts of their homes, here comes another, offering users to book a haircut appointment right to their doorstep.
GoBarber, a platform enabling users to set appointments for home visit haircut and grooming services was initially established in 2022 and officially launched into the market this year.
“The idea came from both of us. Suffi was a freelance barber in the college and he has managed his operations well enough while Zul is a technology enthusiast. This allowed us to work as a team to develop the platform and eventually launch it to the market,” says co-founder, Zul.
The platform aims to address the lack of convenience and time efficiency issues within the haircut industry. Both co-founders highlighted the need to commute to traditional barbershops, queue and spend a significant amount of time for a simple haircut.
With a focus on residents living in the cities, the team believes their target market of busy individuals may find the platform more attractive for convenient grooming services and eventually a higher demand in services.
The team’s optimism that they are at the forefront of the grooming industry, Zul and Suffi believe GoBarber is set to disrupt and dominate the market by focusing on creating outstanding customer experiences via technological advances.
Commenting on how further investments could expand their reach, Zul says, “Technology is important to our company’s growth plan, as it improves operations and increases the customer experience. We can use the investment to fund additional developments in technology, such as the mobile app development or implementation of improved scheduling and communication systems.”
However, the team also faces challenges when it comes to partnerships with barberships due to the lack of exposure within the area. To make up for this, both co-founders are looking to partner with other startups that have established partnerships in the industry to ease the journey forward. One startup the team is looking to work with is Beebag
“The journey has been incredibly tough and mentally draining. Studying while running a startup is challenging, especially when we are looking to grow the business fast. While juggling both has been time-consuming, the experience regardless has been worth it. We have received lessons in pitching, partnership development, team building and much more,” concludes Zul.