Chinese smart suitcase Lvxingzhe has garnered angel investments totaling RMB2 million (approx: US$322,263) from celebrity investors including Qunar’s vice president Zhenyu Chen and Qunar’s divisional director Bo Sun since August last year.
Lvxingzhe’s founder Yu Gao, a graduate student of Beijing Post and Communications University (BPCU), insists he wasn’t jumping on the bandwagon of “all things smart” when starting the project, but wanted to provide a solution for dealing with overweight luggage that costs more and excess amount of liquids in carry-on luggage, that are inevitable for frequent travelers.
Mr. Gao said the core function of the first generation Lvxingzhe suitcase is to weigh luggage but whether or not this feature is relevant to consumer depends largely on the target group. For example it will be useful for many BPCU graduates who make frequent business trips in their jobs at the four major accountancy firms or consultancies.
Although some people may dismiss Lvxingzhe as a minor innovation featuring an electronic luggage weighing device, he said his team went through each step of research, design sourcing and manufacturing it to produce a high quality travel companion.
The second generation product is in the stage of making mass production molds and is expected to land on the JD Crowdfunding site in July. It will include a Bluetooth port to link with an app that is being developed.
Although Lvxingzhe is still in its formative stage and not many investors have picked up on it, it still shows potential judging from US smart suitcase Bluesmart winning US$20 million crowdfunding. With reasonable quality and similar functions to Bluesmart at a much lower price tag, Lvxingzhe has won the confidence of the investors with plans for future generations of products.(Translation by David)
