In 2019, I used to be working as an fairness analysis analyst at UBS. I’m an avid ping pong participant, however after I moved to New York Metropolis I discovered how troublesome it was to seek out locations to play. That’s after I had the thought for PingPod: 24/7 on-demand ping pong amenities that would function with out the necessity for full-time workers on-site.
We stay in a world the place experiences are valued over items—aka “the expertise economic system.” At this time nearly all of People prioritize experiences over items and merchandise. However it may be costly and complicated to ship experiences to folks, particularly in city areas. Our autonomous working mannequin presents the technological key to creating extra ping pong provide in city markets—and it really works for different sports activities, as properly.
We began with a single PingPod location within the Decrease East Aspect of Manhattan—the template for the 18 (and counting) U.S. PingPod shops that might comply with.
Right here’s how they work: Fairly than having workers man a location, every thing on-site is automated. Customers e book the house with an app, and so they can solely unlock the door by way of a code on their smartphone. (For safety we faucet into one other development: outsourcing. See under.) The autonomous mannequin not solely cuts down on value, but in addition expands the occasions of day a venue can be utilized.
Our focus was to create the very best client expertise attainable. We constructed from scratch the software program stack that powers PingPod. We at all times believed that sooner or later we might license our system to exterior venue operators. Final 12 months, we bundled our expertise property into an entirely owned software-as-a-service (SaaS) subsidiary referred to as PodPlay Applied sciences.
At this time, PodPlay has over 70 venues (together with the 18 PingPod shops) signed up on the system throughout desk tennis, billiards, baseball batting cages, pickleball, padel, soccer, golf simulators, racing simulators, and extra. Any venue that sells reservation time slots is a possible PodPlay shopper. Because it occurs, there are lots of like-minded entrepreneurs within the sports activities and recreation house who’re interested by working their venues in a labor-light trend.
What began out as a single automated ping pong facility has remodeled right into a sports-tech firm through which we’re franchising the PingPod model and licensing the PodPlay system.
In March 2022, we obtained $10 million in VC funding to assist with our growth. Final 12 months, we reached $3.6 million in income, and this 12 months we anticipate to hit about $6 million. Primarily based on the newest spherical of financing accomplished final 12 months, our valuation is round $50 million.
Right here’s how we’ve confirmed success and maintained the magic within the expertise as we’ve scaled:
Modernize tech in city areas
PingPod has “Pods” in New York Metropolis, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Miami, Boston, and Chicago, with satellite tv for pc areas within the U.Okay. and the Philippines. The autonomous operations powered by PodPlay enabled that speedy scale.
The will for experiences mixed with the truth that millennials, Gen Z , and Gen Alpha stay in a digital-first world means we will anticipate extra retail areas in city environments turning into experience-focused venues.
Earlier than PingPod, the desk tennis market in NYC provided two choices: your large “eatertainment” facility designed for F&B consumption, or your basement-style “dojo”—a specialised place for desk tennis—that hasn’t been renovated for the reason that ’90s.
PingPod is an avenue in between—a snug place to play ping pong that’s inexpensive, accessible, and handy. Fairly than an enormous vacation spot facility with 30 tables, we provide a dozen smaller-format areas bodily dispersed all through a metropolis.
Cut back working prices
Working autonomously or semi-autonomously is a sport changer for enterprise house owners. Along with decreasing labor prices, autonomous fashions additionally reduce the necessity for bodily labor and subsequently scale back capability constraints. Most PingPods are open 24/7, twelve months a 12 months.
The elemental downside that the autonomous working mannequin solves is location unit economics. Lease is dear in city areas, however variable labor prices are sometimes a good bigger element of the price stack. Autonomous fashions assist to restrict labor prices and permit the enterprise to run with minimal staffing necessities.
What it boils right down to is the double-whammy of lowered working prices and better capability, which yields over 40% working margins in our highest-performing Pods.
Keep buyer security
Autonomous venues are designed to be as easy to function as attainable. The PodPlay system permits small amenities to be run by a single, devoted owner-operator.
Once we first began PingPod, there have been legitimate issues round security and safety. The security of our prospects is at all times our utmost precedence, and now we have devised a number of methods to make sure it. First, all PingPod doorways are locked by default. The one manner one can entry the house is by having a reservation. Second, having a reservation signifies that you paid and that now we have your bank card on file to account for any ancillary costs. Third, the PodPlay system features a devoted video-monitoring workforce based mostly within the Philippines. The workforce in Manila continually retains eyes on all PodPlay autonomous areas and alerts native workforce members when obligatory. 5 years in, with dozens of areas and a whole bunch of hundreds of reservation hours beneath our belt, we really feel snug saying that the working mannequin works as supposed.
Create a seamless buyer expertise and foster neighborhood
The autonomous Pods permit gamers to set the tone of their outing. By together with totally built-in audio and visible elements, the participant expertise could be “gamified.” PodPlay equips venues with instantaneous replay and rating monitoring capabilities that create an elevated expertise for professionals and informal gamers alike.
The moment replay function particularly is transformative for each the client and venue operator. It’s designed to let gamers seize nice moments with out taking them out of the circulation of their sport. They not should arrange a tripod, mount a telephone, and so on. With the contact of a button within the Pod, a replay is projected onto the desk monitor and is emailed to the client and in addition lives of their account.
How usually do prospects make the most of the replay performance? Quite a bit. At PingPod, prospects are on tempo to press the button greater than 100,000 occasions in 2024. The attractive factor for the venue proprietor is that many of those movies find yourself on social media as gamers share their experiences with extra potential customers.
Since we launched PingPod, greater than 100,000 prospects have signed up and greater than 260,000 hours of ping pong have been performed at our Pods, connecting gamers with mates each new and previous in their very own communities.
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The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary items are solely the views of their authors and don’t essentially mirror the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
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