{"id":43627,"date":"2023-10-20T15:29:58","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/hows-it-hanging-cloakr-founder-sees-sugar-coated-future-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:29:58","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:29:58","slug":"hows-it-hanging-cloakr-founder-sees-sugar-coated-future-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/hows-it-hanging-cloakr-founder-sees-sugar-coated-future-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"How\u2019s it hanging?: Cloakr founder sees sugar-coated future – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Dominic Goldsworthy was sitting at the local pub, working on his laptop, when he came up with an idea.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The venue didn\u2019t have its own cloakroom, and he saw the chance to make a few extra bucks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With the help of a simple Excel spreadsheet, Goldsworthy and his friends ran their own digitised cloakroom for two months, and after receiving positive feedback from the owner, decided to turn it into a business.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cloakr launched in January last year and is now used in over 20 venues, and has just reached a big milestone: 100,000 items have been cloaked through his platform.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From raffle tickets to an iPad<\/b> <\/h2>\n

Cloakr\u2019s app aims to bring the outdated traditional cloaking process into the automated, digital world, increasing efficiency and allowing venue owners to capture details about their customers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a big step-up for most cloakrooms in the country, which still seem to operate in the old-fashioned way.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThey run pretty much with raffle tickets, it\u2019s all pretty mundane and difficult,\u201d Goldsworthy says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Cloakr system is based around two products: an iPad and a receipt printer. Patrons simply enter their contact details into the iPad, and then say how many items they want to cloak. The ticket is then printed wirelessly and taken by the user.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a service that provides real benefits for the venues, he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThey love it,\u201d Goldsworthy says. \u201cThey really enjoy the benefits it adds, like more security with the online record, and the information it provides about customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Using Cloakr, customers can enter their email and phone number, and chose to opt-in to receive the venue\u2019s marketing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The software as a service startup operates on a subscription model, which has been upgraded from a \u201ccrude\u201d one-size-fits-all approach to a new three-tiered system for different sized venues.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Goldsworthy says they\u2019re recruiting about one new venue a month, with it currently mainly being used by nightclubs including The Bottom End, Ivy, Inflation and Tramp.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A young entrepreneur in the US runs a very similar startup called CoatChex. The service operates as a free-standing kiosk where clothing is checked which can be assembled quickly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the hunt for funding<\/b><\/h2>\n

Cloakr has been entirely bootstrapped by Goldsworthy so far, although he\u2019s looking to open a funding round later this year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNow we\u2019re in the midst of starting a funding conversation,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are already some interested parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my first time doing it, so there\u2019s a lot to learn about the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Goldsworthy is also looking to expand the app outside of Melbourne at some point this year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe still haven\u2019t hit the Sydney and Brisbane markets yet,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are still a few big venues we want to get on board in Melbourne before we think about stepping into Sydney.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While this is all going on, Goldsworthy is also juggling his studies at Swinburne University, something which he says is \u201cnear impossible\u201d at times.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m weighing up whether to defer,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to do Cloakr when it\u2019s doing well, and when it\u2019s not I want to go to uni\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Raising your<\/i> first round of capital<\/i><\/a>? Starting a<\/i> crowdfunding campaign<\/i><\/a>? Want to grow your business<\/i> with Instagram?<\/i><\/a> StartupSmart School can help.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dominic Goldsworthy was sitting at the local pub, working on his laptop, when he came up with an idea.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43627"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}