Entrepreneurs’ ventures is an early-stage enterprise capital firm in partnership with Entrepreneur Media that goals to support passionate and modern founders from day one. In this series, we profile the amazing entrepreneurs Entrepreneur Ventures works with to share their insights on building and growing a successful business.
When it comes to innovation in the delivery space, Suhail Rahim’s mother, Tigran Shahverdyan AND Ali Ahmedfounders Robomart, put your foot on the pedal. Their fleet of autonomous, on-demand “stores on wheels” hit the road, bringing famous brands to the curb at the touch of a button.
Read on to learn all about their technologically advanced business, development plan and advice for entrepreneurs looking to invest in their dream projects.
Please tell us the height of the Robomart elevator.
Emad Rahim: Robomarts are autonomous stores intended for cafes, ice cream parlors, convenience stores and fast food restaurants – equipped with checkout-free shopping, temperature-controlled rooms and advanced monitoring and security. They are designed to be the smartest and most advanced stores on the market, giving retailers the ability to expand their reach at 90% less cost, and consumers the ability to bring the store to their home in lower than 10 minutes.
Ali Ahmed: We have a patent for autonomous stores and the idea of one-touch ordering by calling the store. In the app you may see what nearby Robomarts are stocked with. If you see something you wish, you call it up, get a push notification when it appears, go outside, swipe to open the door with the app, and collect your stuff. And that is all! We currently have eight contracts signed for 102 Robomarts with restaurants equivalent to Ben & Jerry’s, Mars and several other quick service restaurants.
Source: Robomart
How does it work, cost-wise?
Ali Ahmed: We are B2B, we license Robomarts to retailers. That’s why consumers use our app to call our retail customers’ store. So it’s up to retailers to set prices and set inventory.
How did you three come up with this concept?
Ali Ahmed: Emad and I worked together about 15 years ago. We are also cousins. He was in the ice cream business at the time and I used to be in the food business and he wanted to recreate the ice cream van but make it fit in with all the pieces in retail. Now it predates smartphones, so the idea was to take a rotary dial phone and say send me the store. It was a good idea, but from a technical viewpoint it was definitely too early. So we abandoned that concept and I went to the UK and began a company called Dispatch, which was the fastest growing delivery service. I learned from this experience and reconnected with Emad. Using all the recent technology at our disposal, he discovered that a stand-alone store wouldn’t only provide retailers with two to three times faster delivery times, but would even be significantly cheaper than brick-and-mortar stores. So we developed a small model and took it to CES in 2018. It gained huge popularity during the exhibition and caught the attention of Tigran, who specializes in robotics and automation. We talked and exchanged ideas, and he became our third co-founder.
How do the three of you approach making business decisions?
Tigran Shahverdyan: When establishing the company, we decided that since each of us had specific knowledge, we can be responsible for decisions regarding our area of activity. Most major decisions are discussed between us and we often vote by a two-thirds majority. However, in some cases, if one of us is particularly strong on a decision that the other two disagree with and it is directly related to our area of business, then we are going to delegate the decision to a founder with this data to make the final decision. This model has worked great for us over the years.
Where do you see your company in one and five years?
Emad Rahim: Within a yr, we must always complete the delivery of the first 100 robots to the first eight customers and renew the contracts to ensure greater scale. Within five years, I expect fully autonomous Robomarts to account for greater than 50 percent of our fleet operating throughout the U.S.
Source: Robomart
What do you think was crucial to your success in obtaining financing from investors?
Tigran Shahverdyan: We were recognized by investors as the ideal founding team for this business, with my expertise in robotics, Emad in retail and Ali in on-demand delivery, and we created the first recent retail channel in 30 years, which got investors excited about our vision.
What is your advice for other entrepreneurs looking for financing?
Ali Ahmed: It’s a grind. Fundraising is never easy and like that quote about eating glass – it won’t kill you, but it isn’t fun. Don’t be discouraged if you read about the transactions being concluded and you have the impression that you just won’t get anywhere. We all go through the same process. It’s a numbers game. You need to spend a lot of time to complete the mandatory steps. Founders must keep in mind that they have to be like a duck. Be calm and composed around the water and appear confident that you just understand all the pieces. Meanwhile, below the surface, you are paddling like hell.