Israeli Startup MooVooZ Makes Moving Homes Less Stressful With Online Platform

Many of us get nervous just hearing the word “moving.” The mere concept of having to pack up all our stuff, move it to a new place and then unpack it all can cause something akin to panic.

Israeli startup MooVooZ is trying to simplify the process by digitizing the moving industry through an online moving comparing and booking system that will soon launch across the United States. 

And the startup seems to have identified a big business opportunity. According to the United States Census Bureau, about 30 million people moved houses last year in the US, and no less than $60 billion was spent on moving.

MooVooZ was founded by a global trio of entrepreneurs: Joel Burlin (CEO) from the US, Guy Kohn (CTO) from Israel and Jibin George (senior developer) from India.

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MooVooZ allows users to instantly compare prices and reliability of multiple movers and supervises the entire process to guarantee that the price agreed upon doesn’t change.

MooVooz says it also guarantees that all items will be delivered safely. According to the company, all licensed movers in the US are forced to take out at an insurance policy of at least $1 million. “If an item is lost or broken the mover has to pay a certain fixed fee according to the weight of the item,” CTO Guy Kohn ells NoCamels. “We also allow the user to buy an extended insurance for valuable items.”

Going on personal experience

When getting his master’s degree in LA, Joel Burlin worked for a moving company and quickly decided to start his own moving business.  Starting with one truck, the business grew rapidly, but Burlin was upset by what he thought were widespread scams in the moving industry.

He tells NoCamels: “There are a lot of moving scams, where basically the offer shows one price and when they come they give you a different price, when your stuff is already in the truck.”

It’s your move

MooVooz asks moving companies to enter their prices and moving capabilities into the MooVooZ database and users to input information about the items and location. MooVooZ then provides users with final prices and ratings of the different optional movers.

The company is currently running a pilot in Miami. “We have over 30 moving companies ready to go in Miami and other major cities and we are gathering more,” CTO Kohn tells NoCamels.

The rating system has three main parameters for customers to rank: Service, On-Time and Handling. “We might add more according to feedback we get from our users,” he says.

MooVooz business model relies solely on payment from the movers, not the clients. “The way it works now is that  for every lead [the movers] receive they pay $5 or more. This is despite the fact that only one in 10 leads turns into a booking – if the mover is lucky!” Kohn tells NoCamels. If the move is booked, MooVooz takes an additional fee, though it would not disclose how much.

Not leaving Israel

MooVooZ recently joined the Elevator – a startup accelerator located in Tel Aviv, in preparation for the launch across major US cities. MooVooZ has also recently concluded a substantial seed financing round, to support the operation.

MooVooZ is currently finalizing the online and offline marketing campaigns prior to the launch, and anticipation is high on the part of the team. “We hope to become a one-stop-shop for all moving requirements, business and personal,” Kohn asserts, “the grand vision is to act domestically and internationally.”

Burlin shares the same vision and adds: “Even though we are going to start in the US, we want to be active in Israel as well, and have an R&D team situated in Israel.”

Photo: Happy Couple In Their New Home Concept by Bigstock