KUALA LUMPUR: Movon Sdn Bhd, the home-grown brand in the rental market in Malaysia, has set plans to expand over the next five years.
The company had successfully raised RM20 million through crowdfunding, drawing many participants to support its commercial expansion.
Movon's five-year business plan (2023–2028) entails opening up to 100 island stores and galleries for baby products in malls all around Malaysia.
Chief executive officer Mak Wai Hoong said Movon's ability to generate RM20 million through crowdfunding verified the company's success and demonstrated its viability.
"This indicates how confident the market is in us. Investors see the market potential and our team's experience and belief in our group and creative concept.
"We will keep up our hard work, keep our word, and ensure we reach our objectives in the allotted period," he said in a statement.
He said this crowdfunding campaign supports marketing costs, outlet expansion, the launch of new baby products, and the growth of the Movon brand in Malaysia.
"We aim to have up to 100 Movon outlets in the next five years. We need actual locations to allow customers to touch and feel our products.
"We already operate three, one in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and Pavilion Bukit Jalil, Melaka, and we've noticed excellent client reactions," he said.
Mak said crowdfunding aims to give investors early access to profits and, most importantly, facilitate capital growth for the initial investors.
According to him, the crowdfunding campaign also intends to accelerate the company's listing process as the company plans to go public in 2026.
Established in 2021, Movon, primarily involved in the baby product rental segment, has two product categories - car seats and baby strollers. Each category includes three models and colour options.
Movon's rental package is reasonably priced at RM65 monthly for five years.
For this amount, customers will receive one car seat and one baby stroller, valued at RM1,800 and RM2,000, respectively.
"Customers can rent our car seats and baby stroller for RM65 per month for five years. We will cover the product warranty over five years. Product ownership will pass to the customer after the fifth year," Mak said.
Under the Movin brand, the company also sells travel packs, baby wipes, cleaning services for infant equipment and plans to expand its products into convenience stores and baby stores next year.
In April of this year, Mak launched the Movon brand in response to its favourable reception for its product rental program, which involved collaborating with third-party brands for smart locks and washing machines.
"Drawing from our observations, we have found that the concept of product rental is widely embraced in Malaysia, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic.
"Consequently, we have opted to launch our proprietary brand, Movon, to promote the rental of baby strollers and car safety seats under our scheme," he said.
Mak said Movon have effectively extended the rental model from smart locks to washing machines and, more recently, baby products.
"Additionally, we have initiated cleaning services for baby gear. Customers can now access our cleaning services for their baby gear, irrespective of the brand they own.
"In June this year, we introduced 1,000 cleaning packages, all of which were claimed within two weeks, indicating a positive response from the market and confirming the acceptability of this service," Mak said.
"From here, we see that the market potential for baby gear under the rental scheme and baby gear cleaning services is huge, and we want to expand with more stores and products," he said.
Mak revealed that since 2022, sales of the rental scheme have been extremely high.
The company's overall performance has climbed 62 times this year compared to two years ago since the first crowdfunding phase, and profit has increased significantly from RM387,000 in 2021 to RM3.6 million this year.
"The data proves that capital in our hands will make an impact," he said.
According to Mak, the company's ability to offer the latest items, products certified for safety, cleaning services, and an economical rental program allowed it to break into the market effectively.
He said the company's strollers are in great demand as, when folded, they are easier to carry than those of the brand's rivals because their width is only 19 cm.
MOVON intends to extend its profit landscape by venturing into the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) business, where it may benefit from high repurchase rates and increased brand visibility.
Mak believes that the rental scheme industry will continue to grow in the future.
According to him, the baby goods market is expanding quickly right now, and Movon is leading this very bright and exciting sector of the economy.
"We think the rental business model will lead to the emergence of yet another new trend in the market, even though the microeconomy may still be difficult. In addition to creating a mark and leading the market, we aim to encourage additional SMEs to enter the rental business," he said.
Moving forward, Mak expects the business model for the rental scheme for car seats to grow next year.