Targeting small-space living scenarios, the foldable bathroom project is seeking financing, and its founder previously operated the "Yingmianji Kitchen & Bathroom" business.
In core cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong, mini living spaces of 10 to 15 square meters are not uncommon. In fields including domestic talent apartments, rental housing, and old community renovation, tens of millions of housing units have the pain point of no independent bathroom and insufficient space — a traditional bathroom alone takes up 2 to 4 square meters, directly squeezing the already scarce living space. This rental pain point that has troubled founder Wu Qiang for more than a decade affects more than 80 million rental units, 90 million small-sized apartments below 70 square meters, and 90 million renovated old housing units across China, nearly 30% of which face the problem of lacking independent bathrooms and being unable to install traditional kitchens and bathrooms due to limited original space. The contradiction between functionality and comfort in small-space living has finally given birth to the world's first foldable bathroom project for small-sized living spaces: a storable foldable independent bathroom specially built for small spaces, which realizes the "zero-occupancy" independent bathroom function.
Project Origin and Team
The project originated from Wu Qiang's rental experience in Hangzhou in June 2011: the house he rented at that time had no independent bathroom, which caused great inconvenience to daily life, and due to space constraints, it was impossible to install a traditional bathroom at all. Wu Qiang, who has been interested in folding structures since childhood, began to conceive: can the bathroom be made into a foldable and storable form just like folding beds and folding seats, so that it takes up no space at all when not in use?
After this idea took root, Wu Qiang brought together a professional team covering materials science, architecture, operation and management: at present, the core team includes 1 postdoctoral researcher and 4 doctors. Wu Qiang, CEO, has 30 patents in total, 11 of which are invention patents. He once worked at Hengdian Group, with cross-field experience in technology, finance, management and sales, and has been interviewed by NetEase Kitchen & Bathroom and Talent Headline. Li Zikang, CMO, has 7 years of study experience in the UK and Canada, holds a master's degree from the University of Buckingham, UK, and is responsible for expanding channels at home and abroad. Co-founder Dr. Cui from the University of Cambridge has extensive domestic and overseas resources. Ma Fangzhong, Doctor of Materials Science from Donghua University, has more than 20 years of R&D experience in multinational companies and is responsible for the R&D of new materials. He Weiping, Chief Architect of the Architectural Center of Tsinghua University, serves as the project consultant. Zhai Siyuan, Doctor of Southeast University, once won the first prize in the Achievement Transformation Competition of Chongqing University, and is responsible for the implementation of engineering technology. Xie Luqi, postdoctoral researcher of Southeast University, is also in charge of technology. Ma Tiansheng, Doctor of Momoyama Gakuin University, is responsible for the development of the Japanese market. Ma Lei, Certified Public Accountant, is responsible for financial control.
Since the project was established in 2013, the team has overcome a number of technical difficulties such as folding function integration, airtight leakage prevention and deodorization, and has completed five generations of product R&D from the 1.0 compressed bathroom to the 5.0 modular movable space, with a total of 28 patent applications, 21 of which have been granted. At present, the team has obtained 5 million yuan in sales orders, and another 30 million yuan of intended orders in hand. The project is about to enter the stage of sample implementation. Looking back on more than ten years of R&D, Wu Qiang said frankly that the biggest challenge in the process of project promotion is financing difficulty. Most investment institutions hold a wait-and-see attitude towards the market prospect of innovative new products. "There are many fraudsters in the society, and few are willing to invest real money", but the team has always focused on the rigid demand pain point to polish technology, and decided to open up the market starting from easily accessible tracks such as capsule homestays.
Product and Technological Breakthroughs
As the world's original foldable bathroom technology, the core innovation of the project is to completely break the traditional thinking of fixed floor occupation of bathrooms, and realize 100% space saving through the foldable structure. The 2.0 foldable integrated bathroom under preparation for mass production at present integrates the folding toilet, folding washstand and folding sink on a wall panel of 120cm × 35cm × 210cm, which can be completely folded and stored when not in use, occupying no usable area at all, and can be unfolded to form a complete independent bathroom when needed.
In addition to the space advantage, the project has also achieved many technological breakthroughs: the integrated design allows the whole set of products to be installed in only 40 minutes, which is much faster than the one-month installation cycle of traditional bathrooms. Equipped with leakage prevention device and intelligent automatic deodorization and dehumidification system, it solves the common problems of water leakage and peculiar smell in traditional integrated bathrooms. It also realizes water resource recycling, and the washing water can directly flow into the toilet water tank, automatically saving one third of domestic water. The price is also more affordable: the standard version only costs 3500 to 4000 yuan, and the high-end version only costs 6500 to 7000 yuan, which is one fifth cheaper than the integrated bathroom of the same grade. The whole set adopts green and environmentally friendly materials, with energy saving and emission reduction of more than 70% across the whole industrial chain. The technology has been included in the Green Technology Bank. At present, the project has completed all-round intellectual property layout, with patent protection provided by the top domestic patent agency Gangzhu, forming a solid technical barrier.
Market Space and Cooperation Intentions
According to the statistics of the project, the total potential demand across scenarios such as domestic talent apartments, rental housing, small-sized apartments below 70 square meters, old housing renovation, adding independent bathrooms to secondary bedrooms and guest bedrooms in commercial housing, mini hotels, recreational vehicles, capsule homestays, container houses, and prefab houses for construction sites exceeds 360 million units. The total addressable market scale in the next ten years is close to 1 trillion yuan, which can replace 80% of the integrated bathrooms and 60% of the shower rooms in the market, with broad market space.
At present, the project has connected with the investment departments of leading enterprises such as Panasonic, JOMOO, Dongpeng, China Construction Third Bureau, Midea Rise Yourcare, and Golden Home, all of which said they would consider participating in the investment after the project forms stable large-scale sales. Enterprises including Big Home, Transbrick and Wuling RV have also expressed their intention for cooperation.
Business Model and Financing Plan
The project currently has a clear business model, which mainly generates revenue through four sectors: product sales, customized services, regional agency joining, and after-sales service. At the same time, it adopts a fission marketing model to quickly expand the market through referral rewards for old customers.
The current financing round has not been disclosed for the time being. The project plans to promote the implementation of samples immediately after obtaining the investment, focus on scenarios such as capsule homestays to open up the initial market first, and gradually complete the launch of the five generations of products in the next five years. The goal is to achieve a net profit of 90 million yuan in 2030. The long-term plan is to achieve listing within ten years, become the "Tesla in the home furnishing industry", and finally use green folding technology to solve the housing problem of 100 million floating population. The goal is to enter the Fortune Global 500 within 35 to 40 years, use folding technology to solve the housing problem of 100 million floating population, and reduce the temporary resettlement cost during disaster rescue.
Market Feedback
Many potential partners who have been exposed to the project in advance have recognized the product concept. A person in charge of procurement of a leading capsule homestay enterprise said that each of their capsules is only 10 to 20 square meters. Originally, compressing the bathroom space would affect the check-in experience, and the foldable bathroom just solves this pain point, which not only retains the function of independent bathroom, but also does not occupy the daily activity space, fully matching the needs of the industry.
Wu Qiang said that as a serial entrepreneur, he has been deeply engaged in this project for more than ten years because he has identified the rigid demand pain point of small-space living. After the project is implemented, it will completely change the living experience of scenarios such as small-sized apartments and rental housing, release the scarce space locked by fixed kitchens and bathrooms, and promote the whole bathroom industry to upgrade in a more efficient and energy-saving direction. The team will also adhere to building a warm high-tech enterprise, driven by technology to achieve growth, and practically solve the housing problem of ordinary people.