Purdue alumni create high-tech, contactless moving company

RoliBox, a Purdue University-affiliated startup, wants to use technology to provide a new and secure way for people to move and store their belongings. (Image provided) Download image

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A Purdue University-affiliated startup wants to use technology to provide a new and secure way for people to move and store their belongings.

RoliBox uses web-based technology to provide contact-free moving and storage services. The solution consists of a rolling container that can fit through a residential doorway, combined with a delivery fulfillment network and logistics optimization platform.

“We know from our customer surveys that people are improvising their own solutions for small moves,” said Wes Delker, a graduate of Purdue’s Krannert School of Mangement who co-founded the company. “Residential moving is traditionally low-tech and labor intensive. We believe our solution has the potential to change the economics of the industry.”

Delker started RoliBox with Michael Friedemann, a graduate of Purdue’s College of Engineering. They are planning to launch the service on Purdue’s campus at the end of the spring semester.

RoliBox uses web-based technology to provide contact-free moving and storage services. (Image provided) Download image

“Our solution offers an affordable and convenient alternative for smaller moves, which is well suited for university students and urban residents,” Delker said. “Our logistics platform harnesses the power of web-based asset tracking, so customers can receive updates about their containers as they are moved or stored at our facilities.”

Delker started the company after working in consulting and becoming an airline pilot. He turned to this moving solution after the pandemic crushed the airline industry. Friedemann brings a decade of experience managing operations for the world’s largest online retailer.

Delker and Friedemann graduated from the Firestarter program with the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub housed in the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in Purdue’s Discovery Park District, adjacent to the Purdue campus.

About Purdue Foundry

The Purdue Foundry is an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub whose professionals help Purdue innovators create and grow startups. The Purdue Foundry is housed in the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in Discovery Park District, adjacent to the Purdue campus. The Purdue Foundry has been involved with creating more than 300 companies. The Purdue Foundry is part of the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. In 2020, IPWatchdog Institute ranked Purdue third nationally in startup creation. For more information about involvement and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 5 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu.

Writer: Chris Adam, cladam@prf.org 

Sources: Wes Delker, wes.rolibox@gmail.com

Michael Friedemann, michael.rolibox@gmail.com