Boxful, a Hong Kong-based startup business specializing in valet self-storage services, launched in January, offering pickup and delivery service in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and most of New Territories, according to the company website. Buoyed by $1.5 million in seed money garnered last year, Boxful uses an online platform that allows customers to schedule free item pickup, maintain an image catalog of belongings, and schedule delivery of items to their home.

Modeled largely after valet-style storage operations that have emerged in the United States, Boxful offers by-the-bin storage targeted at residents who live in the dense urban areas of the region and don’t have adequate home storage. Customers pay $49 HKD per standard bin per month, $69 HKD for oversized items or $89 HKD for a standard wardrobe box. The company used a portion of its seed funding on an aggressive advertising campaign and currently stores more than 2,000 bins in its two warehouses on Hong Kong Island, according to the source.

Home-delivery service runs $88 HKD, although the company is offering one free delivery per month to new customers who sign up before April 30. The offer is valid until Dec. 31, 2018 or when a customer terminates the service contract, whichever is earlier, according to the company website.

Boxful was founded by Norman Cheung Sheung-ho and Carl Wu. Cheung, who serves as CEO, is a graduate of the London School of Economics. He started his career in finance before gaining experience in the online space working for the fashion e-commerce startup Zooq, the source reported. Once he and Wu conceived the idea, the company went from concept to startup quickly, he said.

"The execution by itself was a very short timeframe," Cheung told the source. "Being in finance and investment banking for eight years helped me develop a pretty wide network of potential investors."

Hong Kong has become a hotbed of self-storage activity, including valet services, due to its dense population and limited storage options. The region has more than 6,300 people per square kilometer, according to the source. More than 820,000 households in the city have no room for storage, according to a 2014 report by Colliers Hong Kong.

Boxful joins Spacebox Ltd. and Vault Dragon as valet operators in the Hong Kong market. Hongkong Storage, a traditional self-storage operator with 15 facilities in the region, also offers pickup and delivery services through its Yes-Storage program. Vault Dragon also offers valet-storage service in Singapore.

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