SafeCloak has rapidly grown into a trusted name in India’s smart locker landscape, offering safe, digital lockers across more than ten cities. These IoT-enabled lockers provide secure, short-term storage for travellers at strategic locations such as railway stations, airports, shopping malls, and resorts. This article explores SafeCloak’s origin, growth, and future aspirations, highlighting its impact on India’s travel and urban infrastructure.
Origins and Inspiration
The idea for SafeCloak was born from the personal travel experiences of its founding team, who had extensive exposure to international digital locker systems. The founders, who worked in IT industry, were accustomed to high-tech luggage storage solutions in Europe and the United States, where coin-operated or digitally managed lockers were common. These systems allowed travellers to secure their belongings easily, ensuring both convenience and safety. Conversely, their experiences in India exposed the limitations of traditional cloakrooms, which often suffered from poor organization, limited service hours, and a lack of cleanliness and privacy.
The stark contrast in luggage storage services between India and other developed countries motivated the founders to create a solution that could bridge this gap. SafeCloak’s mission became clear: to bring a modern, secure, and efficient smart storage system to India’s growing urban and transit hubs, providing an option that would allow travellers to roam freely without the burden of their belongings.
Testing Market Viability
Despite a clear vision, the SafeCloak team was uncertain about the Indian market’s readiness to embrace such a technology. To test this concept, they initially launched a pilot program using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) lockers at Bengaluru’s Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna (KSR) railway station. These RFID lockers offered a primitive form of digital storage, with manual intervention required for RFID card distribution and management. However, these lockers quickly gained popularity among travellers, providing the team with valuable feedback and confidence in the market’s acceptance of digital storage solutions.
Developing SafeCloak’s IoT-Enabled Lockers
Encouraged by the positive reception, the team decided to develop a more advanced, IoT enabled locker system. Over five months, they designed and tested the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) under the new SafeCloak brand. The MVP was first introduced to the public in January 2023 at a shopping mall, an installation made possible through an organic partnership. Shortly afterward, SafeCloak’s IoT lockers replaced the initial RFID units in Indian Railways, offering a more streamlined and secure storage experience.
Expansion and User-Centric Improvements
Following the MVP launch, SafeCloak worked continuously to refine and expand its offerings. Leveraging user feedback and data trends, the team optimized pricing and introduced various locker sizes to meet diverse customer needs. By the end of 2023, SafeCloak’s smart digital lockers were available across several key cities, including Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Hubli, with installations in railway stations, malls, and select resorts.
This initial success period was marked by trial and error, as SafeCloak retired and repurposed lockers to locations where demand was highest. This flexible approach allowed the company to identify ideal spots for its lockers, resulting in more efficient use of resources and better customer service.
Sustained Growth and Expansion in 2024
Building on a successful first year, SafeCloak began 2024 with ambitious expansion goals. It added installations in seven additional cities, including Hyderabad, Tirupati, and Lucknow. This growth also marked SafeCloak’s entrance into new markets like airports and metro stations, where the convenience of short-term luggage storage proved immensely popular. By November 2024, SafeCloak had over 40 active locker installations, totalling 450 lockers, and is serving several thousands of customers monthly.
The demand for SafeCloak’s services also led to increased interest from public and private sectors alike. Indian Railways, along with various private companies, expressed interest in incorporating SafeCloak lockers into their facilities to enhance traveller convenience. Recognizing the need for additional capacity, SafeCloak set a target of installing 600 lockers in the short term and 2,500 lockers in the next two years across fifteen new cities.
Looking to the Future
As SafeCloak continues to grow, there are ongoing initiatives to further improvise the product and process and also build a platform that can cater to various needs, besides the luggage storage. SafeCloak’s platform is evolving to include many features such as aadhar authorization, alerting user on time ending, pre booking, multi-level fail backs making it 100% autonomous, self-healing and predictive maintenance. An advanced SafeCloak platform will soon be ready for plug & play enabling booking from many affiliate travel platforms or to corporate ecosystem and the platform can be easily adaptable to many Subscription based platforms like Gym Swim Sport Clubs and more.
SafeCloak’s journey from concept to a recognized brand exemplifies the potential of leveraging technology to meet market needs. With its digital-first approach, SafeCloak has successfully redefined luggage storage in India, providing a solution that combines security, convenience, and scalability. SafeCloak strongly believes that the smart storage solutions are a multi-billion dollar market worldwide, with Indian market being close to more than 1 billion dollars annually in luggage storage space alone. The company has already completed two rounds of funding, with investors and stakeholders optimistic about SafeCloak’s growth trajectory. As the brand expands, it aims to solidify its reputation as a trusted partner for both travellers and businesses, offering digitally-enabled services that enhance the travel experience and facilitate last-mile delivery in future.
Conclusion
SafeCloak’s story is one of innovation, resilience, and adaptability. By recognizing and responding to the specific needs of Indian travellers, SafeCloak has brought a transformative solution to the nation’s luggage storage industry. The company’s continued growth and commitment to customer satisfaction position it well to become a household name, providing peace of mind to travellers and contributing to the modernization of India’s urban infrastructure.
