STARTUP STAGE: Moliving’s solar-powered mobile suites enable off-the-grid travel

Moliving

Moliving offers landowners and hoteliers the opportunity to develop hotels in months versus years and at a fraction of the cost of a traditional hotel. 

Moliving was founded in July 2021 and has nine employees. The company plans to launch its flagship property, Hurley House, in New York’s Hudson Valley before expanding to several East and West Coast locations in 2023.

What is your 30-second pitch to investors?

Moliving is the world’s first nomadic hospitality solution that can pop up anytime and anywhere. Being at the forefront of sustainability and technology, Moliving has created the best-case use of real estate with nature as the centerpiece.

Moliving is disrupting the modular living and hospitality industries by introducing a never-before-seen concept that offers future hoteliers and landowners the opportunity to build hotels in months versus years at a fraction of the cost of a traditional hotel. Moliving can predict seasonal demand and adjust room inventory to match demand in real time.

Describe both the business and technology aspects of your startup.

Moliving’s goal is not only to democratize hospitality but to also protect the environment by implementing sustainable alternatives to harmful practices. 

Moliving operates as a joint-venture partnership for landowners, future hoteliers, national parks and campgrounds. The partner will contribute land and install relatively minor permanent infrastructure. In exchange, Moliving offers its hotel operations system including management services, reservation systems, the overall brand and all services to efficiently operate and run a hotel, as well as flexible inventory with the suites.

Our luxury mobile suites seamlessly integrate sophisticated technology into nature, with virtually zero disruption to the environment. The suites are mobile and are built on a custom designed chassis, allowing them to be set as standalone or grouped together to form multilevel establishments.

The suites are truly “green.” They are engineered to harvest enough solar energy to be fully independent from the power grid and generate sufficient power to operate all other facilities throughout the site. Each suite uses the latest lithium battery technology to store energy harvested from rooftop solar panels, gray water recycling technology enabling a reduction in water consumption, UV sanitization technology, hands-free controls for all electronics and a seamless tablet control integration.

Give us your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the company.

Strengths: Moliving has created an entirely new segment of its own, which is a hybrid of mobility and luxury spaces. Being at the forefront of eco-responsibility, Moliving is the first hotel group to have created its own proprietary mobile suites that are designed with sustainability, durability, modularity and luxury in mind.

Since inception, Moliving has garnered significant media attention in various top-tier publications globally and has received numerous awards and recognitions. In the last six months, Moliving was awarded the Platinum TITAN Business Award for Hospitality in the Company & Organization category, the Gold Stevie Award in the Startup of the Year, Business Service Industry category at the 20th Annual American Business Awards, and was the overall winner for the “New Brand Launch” category at the 18th Annual Hospitality Design Awards.

Weaknesses: Moliving is currently experiencing an incredible demand that needs to be filled much quicker than anticipated.

Opportunities: Poised for rapid expansion, Moliving has plans to grow the brand in several East and West Coast locations in addition to various destinations throughout the world.

Threats: The main threat is a plethora of future competitors that would like to be in the space that we have created. However, because Moliving has first-mover advantage and has been in development for over four years before debuting, we will set the mark for all future competitors.

What are the travel pain points you are trying to alleviate from both the customer and the industry perspective?

Our mission when we created Moliving was to democratize the hotel industry as a whole. From a development standpoint, Moliving allows landowners to create value, monetize their underutilized land and invest in their property as a hospitality destination in an efficient and scalable manner.

By reducing development costs by more than 50%, Moliving can charge guests less, allowing them to access ultra-luxury in amazing locations that previously might not have been accessible.

So you’ve got the product, now how will you get lots of customers?

We’ve received strong traction and interest since launching Moliving in July 2021, and have not only met but exceeded expectations by reaching a broader demand that we had originally planned. We are receiving international requests to initiate Moliving locations outside of the United States. 

Tell us what process you've gone through to establish a genuine need for your company and the size of the addressable market.

Moliving originated while visiting one of the top destinations outside of New York City during its peak season. The idea stemmed from the thought about how various seasonal hotels are not only inaccessible to many during this time, but also not very luxurious, especially for the price point. We worked through the reasons why these hotels were charging insanely high premiums, which then led us to the idea of creating a movable hotel that could always be in the right markets at the right times.

We initially started Moliving based on the idea that we would create hotels that would fully move (both rooms and food and beverage) depending on the season. With COVID-19, we quickly realized that these seasonal markets are year-round with various demand levels.

Thus, we pivoted and adapted the business model to create hotels with fluctuating inventory rather than having to move all components, which allows us to create a more upscale product to complement our ultra-luxury suites. Our five-star hotels will contract and expand their inventories dependent on traveler demand. 

How and when will you make money?

Moliving has payback periods that are significantly compressed compared to the traditional space. Moliving suites start at approximately $150,000 to manufacture depending on the eco-responsible add-ons. This is about two to three times less expensive than a comparable four- or five-star product, which can range as high as $800,000 to $1.2 million, allowing for quicker returns on investments.

What are the backgrounds and previous achievements of the founding team?

Jordan Bem, founder and CEO of Moliving, has spent most of his career at the intersection of real estate and private equity with Arizona Investissements SA. Jordan became familiar with the financial and investment challenges faced by hotel and real estate development inspiring him to found Moliving, Inc.

Born in Paris, Jordan has tapped his international network to develop the Moliving model. While at Arizona Investissements SA, Jordan grew the business vertically, contributing to the growth of its portfolio of prime international assets by over 2 million square feet. Jordan also worked for AXA, Cofinance Inc. and Carlton Strategic Ventures. He has acquired, developed, managed and syndicated billions in deals across various markets.

Agustin Desintonio, chief development officer of The Moliving Collection, brings more than 35 years of hospitality experience to Moliving’s exclusive management company. Agustin oversees the growth of the guest experience, with his first task to develop The Moliving Collection’s first location: Hurley House in the Hudson Valley outside New York City. Prior to joining Moliving, Agustin held leadership roles with hospitality outfits such as Viceroy, Intercontinental, Four Seasons and Starwood.

Hanna Bem is chief marketing officer of Moliving and head of The Moliving Collection. Hanna brings her hospitality, marketing and public relations experience to The Moliving Collection, where she crafts the Moliving experience. Leveraging her international upbringing in France and the United States, Hanna is also focused on expanding the footprint of Moliving around the world. Prior to joining Moliving, Hanna worked with hospitality, luxury and real estate brands including SBE, Dorchester Collection, LVMH and Kering.

Anne Dekker, chief financial officer of Moliving, has more than 24 years of experience in finance and business development in the hospitality industry. She worked for Accor Hotels for 14 years in various international positions, including CFO for the Benelux.  

Pat Ripa, head of engineering and project management, started his career in consulting at Langan Engineering, designing, permitting and overseeing construction. Pat is well versed in the permitting process for federal, state and local jurisdictions and has designed, permitted and managed many aspects of development, including utility systems, site layouts, stormwater management, solar facilities, geotechnical and structural components, wetland and floodplain permitting and various zoning applications. 

Moliving advisor Paul Galvin is the founder, chairman and CEO of SG Blocks. Paul brings over three decades of experience developing and managing real estate, including residential condominiums, luxury sales and market rate and affordable rental projects. 

Moliving advisor Kevin Rohani has more than 15 years of experience in the hotel and food & beverage space, including at Accor and SBE.  

How have you addressed diversity and inclusion within your business?

Moliving is a place where you are empowered to make an impact and reshape the hospitality industry. Everyone is an equal and is encouraged to debate and disagree, listen and be open-minded. Moliving employs top talent with diverse experience from hospitality, real estate, architecture, construction, software, consumer hardware and automotive backgrounds.

What has been the most difficult part of founding the business so far?

Currently, the main challenge for Moliving is filling the demand, which speaks to the overall traction of the brand. Moliving has not only met, but exceeded, expectations, and is recognizing that the concept has a much stronger appeal than it was originally intended to serve.

Generally, travel startups face a fairly tough time making an impact - so why are you going to be one of the lucky ones?

Moliving is uniquely positioned between the glamping and ultra-luxury hospitality sectors. To this day, no one has managed to provide an upscale product and experience while proving true flexibility and a sustainable result.

Not only are our suites mobile, but they also feature a system that protects the land by allowing them to be removed with no impact or damage to the ground below. This is what truly sets Moliving apart.

A year from now, what state do you think your startup will be in?

We look forward to introducing Moliving at Hurley House, the flagship for our brand, in New York’s Hudson Valley, which will also be the first positive-energy eco-resort in North America. There are plans to grow the Moliving brand in several East and West Coast locations in 2023.

What is your end-game? (Going public, acquisition, growing and staying private, etc)

We always build to the best of our abilities. If you build to sell, you are cutting corners, but we are building to change the hospitality industry. We are creating a legacy that gives people the opportunity to visit the world and experience luxury in a more affordable and sustainable way.