It’s my pleasure to introduce Boxabl, creators of ultra-modern folding houses that have been designed so they can be shipped across the world in a box. Boxabl’s mission is to significantly lower the cost of home ownership and make higher standards of home quality more accessible to everyone.
I invested in Boxabl because they’ve unlocked the secret to getting modular homes built at scale. Current competitors have failed to gain mass-adoption because the transportation of modular homes are complex, often requiring police escorts and lots of red tape to cut through. The components themselves are simply too large.
Galiano Tiramani and his father Paolo have invested heavily in creating IP that gives them an unbeatable edge in production and logistics of modular homes. Each home is built in a precision factory environment, using cutting edge materials and frontier technology. The homes can be delivered right to your backyard—they arrive complete out of the box, and can unfold in a mere two hours.
When people think of PropTech, they often think of software-based solutions that alleviate administrative burdens on the part of real estate professionals. But Boxabl’s PropTech masterpiece challenges the way we think about design, process, cost, and delivery, and proves that it’s possible to make a high-quality product at half the price and twice the convenience as the competition.
Boxabl’s design serves as an alternative to traditional wood frame houses and provides the same level of shelter and elegance at a fraction of the cost. The company’s flagship product is an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) called “The Casita.” With a 20×20 footprint and 9.5 foot-high ceilings, these durable units come equipped with amenities and appliances. They’re built using the latest constructions methods and are completely fire, flood, rot, wind and pest resistant.
While Boxabl is still in its early stages, they’ve garnered phenomenal interests from all sectors of real estate.
As with any start up, an investment in the company is an investment in the founders. I feel extremely confident about the people driving this operation forward. Meet Boxabl’s three founding partners:
- The Visionary – Galiano Tiramani, is the son of Paulo, and the seed of innovation didn’t fall far from the tree. A serial entrepreneur in his own right, Galiano is the founder of two successful startups, the last of which was profitably sold in 2019. He was the one who reached out to me originally, and I recognized his business acumen and his passion instantly.
- The Inventor – Paulo Tiramani is an industrial and mechanical engineer who has done countless intellectual licensing deals and holds over 150 patent filings. Generating $1 billion in retail sales, those early successes are now helping to launch the Boxabl company.
- The Engineer – Kyle Denman holds over 20 patents of his own in the fields of civil engineering and automotive mechanical engineering.
Galiano’s vision and appetite for marketing remind me of my own entrepreneurial journey. A key element of Vungle’s success was acquiring pre-orders. Boxabl shares a keen awareness regarding the importance of that step; they’ve got a growing waitlist of paying customers and continue to test the market, refining and perfecting an already amazing product.
It’s the perfect time to enter the pre-fabricated home market, a sector where interest is huge and growing. California recently altered a law to allow affordable housing units (ADUs). To fulfill the ensuing spike in demand, Boxabl plans to produce 3,000 units in their Las Vegas manufacturing facility in their first year.
Boxabl’s business model operates on these major principles:
Mass Production and Standardization
If automation and standardization was Henry Ford’s claim to fame, perhaps it holds the same revelation for the housing market. Leaning in to mass production, Boxabl has been able to develop a unique offering that’s more consistent, higher quality, and more customizable (each unit offers endless options for configuration).
Radical Simplification
In a small workshop in Denmark, the founders of LEGO engineered a standardized building system to manufacture plastic toys, and the endlessly versatile toy was born. Boxabl applied this thinking to houses. Embracing new materials and thinking outside the traditional stick-frame-box house, Boxabl has created a manufacturing process that is reliable, simple, standardized, and scalable. The end product is both dependable and endlessly customizable.
Shipping Solutions
In the modular home market, the biggest financial barriers to entry and to sales aer the financial and logistical concerns that come with shipping such huge units. Boxabl understood this barrier and faced it, directly and early on. Their patented foldable rooms offer the perfect solution.
With their flattened design, the company can ship 2x-3x more buildings per truck load, without the hindrance of cumbersome wide load permits or other Department of Transportation restrictions. Not only does this save endless operational headaches and liabilities, it creates a tangible and brand-defining cut in costs for consumers to enjoy
Innovations like these are what make a career in real estate investment so exciting. Boxabl has proved to have keen awareness of the problems in the modular housing industry, and they’ve demonstrated unparalleled creativity when it comes to their solutions.
When you look at the Boxabl unit, it feels like you are seeing the future of the real estate industry. This is the kind of company that achieves a larger goal than just design innovation or sales—they could change the way we think about and achieve affordable housing. It’s a timely mission, and it’s my great pleasure to be along for the ride.