Cloud of Goods delivers rental equipment such as wheelchairs, strollers, and mobility scooters. Getting bulky items like a bike or wheelchair to a vacation destination is expensive and complicated. Whether you’re a parent who hates lugging multiple strollers across the country or a grandparent who wants to rent a scooter during a family trip to Disneyland, Cloud of Goods delivers families the gear they need, so they can spend more time exploring.
Punsri Abeywickrema is the CEO and founder of Cloud of Goods, a San Francisco based company that delivers wheelchair, stroller and mobility scooter rentals to nine cities across the United States. Abeywickrema is a serial entrepreneur who, prior to starting Cloud of Goods in 2016, held positions at a number of Silicon Valley tech companies including LinkedIn, Zynga, PayPal and Oracle.
“One of the things that fulfill me personally is travel,” says Abeywickrema. “Visiting new places gives you the opportunity to encounter new people, unique cultures and different ways of looking at situations. The logistical portion of travel is typically everyone’s least favorite part.
When you’re going to a place you’ve never been before, it can be time-consuming and frustrating trying to cart all of your items from Point A to Point B, especially if someone in your family has a disability. Bulky gear like mobility scooters and wheelchairs can be tough to transport to a vacation destination and purchasing one at your arrival destination is a pricey endeavor. By creating Cloud of Goods my team has been afforded a wonderful opportunity to deliver families items they need like baby strollers, mobility scooters, and wheelchairs, so they can spend more time exploring.”
Currently, Cloud of Goods offers services in nine cities: San Francisco, Anaheim, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, San Diego and Washington DC. They would love to deliver even more smiles to more customers in more places, so the money they make off of sales of their services is going directly back into the budding business. As a young company, they’re plowing all of the revenue back into their business and continuing to grow.
They’re always interested in connecting with investors and people who believe in the business and are passionate about helping Cloud of Goods succeed. As an angel/seed stage company, finding the right investor who aligns with their business needs is just as important as accruing funds.
Cloud of Goods’ customers range all the way from parents who hate lugging multiple strollers across the country to people with disabilities and seniors who are facing mobility issues.
The feedback from customers is that they’re helping them go on dream vacations that might have otherwise passed on because it would have been too pricey or difficult if Cloud of Goods didn’t exist. They’ve heard lots of heartwarming stories including:
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A couple from Utah who took their five-year-old autistic daughter and six-month-old son to Disneyland for a week and had a blast because they were able to rent a double stroller that both kids could use (just in case their daughter got tired of walking). Cloud of Goods connected them with a sturdy stroller for a fraction of the price it would have cost them to rent it elsewhere, it was delivered right to their hotel and at the end of their trip, they got to leave the stroller behind without lugging it around the airport.
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A couple from Alabama who needed a scooter for a trip to Orlando with their 85-year-old grandmother. With the scooter they rented from Cloud of Goods, she was able to easily zip around and cover a lot more ground despite her arthritis.
The support they could use the most is in helping generate awareness so that they can continue to help make the world a more accessible place. According to the World Bank, one billion people (15 percent of the world’s population), experience some form of disability. That’s a huge number of people. Even if you aren’t disabled, there’s a chance you have a friend or family member or that you know someone who is impacted by a disability.
According to UN data, it’s predicted that the over-64 population will double sometime between 2018 and the mid-2040s. That means there will be even more people on the planet who are aging and looking for ways to be active, mobile and connected. By creating more awareness that solutions like Cloud of Goods exist, they can help more people enjoy travel regardless of who they are, where they come from or what their life situation is.
Message from Founder:
We frequently hear from people who are incredibly thankful for our service because they’ve had the opportunity to go on trips and to create memories that they thought were out of their reach. Our message to customers and viewers is to not let anything hold you back from your dreams. Despite the battles you face, don’t let any condition hold you back or get in the way of you achieving the goals you have set for yourself.
