Business
Business model, pricing, competitive positioning, and market presence.
Customers
Hiro's primary paying customers are self-service laundry outlet owners — individual operators typically running 1–5 outlets. They need a reliable, low-maintenance system to manage machines, collect payments, and monitor their outlet remotely without hiring staff.
Revenue Model
Hiro generates revenue through five streams:
| Stream | Description |
|---|---|
| SaaS subscription | Monthly or annual fee per outlet or machine for access to the platform, app, and dashboard |
| Service fee | 5–8% of merchant sales — covers ongoing platform operations and service. Rate varies by merchant tier (see Brand Relationships) |
| Transaction cut | Percentage or flat fee on each wash payment processed through the platform |
| Hardware margin | Revenue from selling or leasing Hiro Link IoT boards and Hiro Kiosk terminals |
| Setup / onboarding fee | One-time fee covering hardware installation and system configuration at the outlet |
Note: The 10% A&P fund levy is not revenue — it's a managed marketing pool redeployed back into merchant-facing campaigns (see Marketing & Loyalty below).
Marketing & Loyalty — A&P Fund
Hiro runs a pooled marketing fund called A&P (Advertisement & Promotion), financed by a 10% levy on merchant sales. Funds are aggregated centrally and deployed across three campaign types:
Campaign Types
| Type | Initiated By | Funded By | Merchant Participation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Hiro-hosted | Hiro (platform-wide) | A&P fund + Hiro marketing budget | All merchants included automatically, no extra cost |
| 2. Merchant-initiated | Individual merchant | Merchant pays full cost | Self-service — merchant designs and funds |
| 3. Custom / collaborative | Either side | Shared between Hiro and merchant | Optional — merchant can opt out due to cost share |
Type 1 — Hiro-hosted Campaigns
Platform-wide promotions designed and run by Hiro, funded from the pooled A&P fund plus Hiro's own marketing budget. Every merchant on the Hiro platform participates by default — they've already contributed via the 10% A&P levy, so no additional cost. These campaigns drive consumer acquisition and retention across the whole network.
Type 2 — Merchant-initiated Campaigns
Run by individual merchants, typically when launching a new outlet. The most common template is a "7-day free wash" opening promotion. Funded entirely by the merchant — A&P does not contribute since the benefit is single-outlet.
Type 3 — Custom / Collaborative Campaigns
Cost-shared campaigns between Hiro and the merchant. Two common patterns:
- Merchant requests support — merchant approaches Hiro to co-fund a campaign too large for them alone
- Regional campaigns — Hiro initiates a regional promotion (e.g. a city or district) and invites merchants in that area to join
Because merchants bear part of the cost, participation is optional — they can decline if the economics don't work for them.
Roadmap — Individual Loyalty
Current loyalty efforts are campaign-driven (network-wide or merchant-led promotions). An individual-level loyalty system (e.g. points, stamp cards, referral rewards, tiered membership) is under evaluation but not yet planned in detail — the design is on hold pending broader strategic decisions on funding model and cross-outlet portability.
Status: under evaluation, no commitment yet. Update this section once the design is finalised.
Pricing Model
Hiro does not set or interfere with wash prices — each merchant sets their own pricing strategy. Hiro's role is to provide a flexible pricing infrastructure called group pricing.
Group Pricing
Prices are configured at the group level, not per individual outlet or machine. A group is a logical container that one or more outlets share, and merchants define groups however suits their business:
| Grouping Pattern | Example Use Case |
|---|---|
| Brand-wide group | A chain operator applies one price set across all their outlets |
| Regional group | Different price tiers for different cities or districts |
| Single-outlet group | An individual outlet with prices distinct from the rest of the chain |
A merchant can mix patterns — for example, most outlets in a "national" group plus one premium-location outlet in its own group with higher prices.
This design lets large chain operators manage pricing centrally while still allowing exceptions where market conditions demand them.
Brand Relationships
mydobi
Hiro is a subsidiary of mydobi, a laundry brand operating on the Hiro platform. Despite the corporate relationship, Hiro operates as a neutral platform — mydobi receives no operational privileges, feature access, or marketing priority over other brands. Functionally, mydobi is treated like any other merchant.
The only differences for mydobi merchants are commercial:
| Item | mydobi | Other merchants |
|---|---|---|
| A&P fund levy | 10% | 10% (same — fairness across all brands) |
| Service fee | Preferential rate (lower end of 5–8%) | Standard rate within 5–8% range |
App display, platform features, support quality, and campaign participation are all identical across mydobi and non-mydobi merchants.
Why this matters: Hiro's commercial credibility depends on non-mydobi merchants trusting the platform. Operational neutrality is an explicit policy, not just a corporate posture.
Competitive Positioning
Hiro's key differentiator is its vertically integrated stack — hardware (Hiro Link, Hiro Kiosk), cloud backend (Hiro Platform), and customer-facing mobile app (Hiro App) all from a single vendor.
This means:
- No integration headaches between third-party hardware and software
- Faster support resolution (one team owns the full stack)
- Consistent UX from machine to app to merchant dashboard
- Ability to ship end-to-end features (e.g. loyalty, dryer add-on time) without external dependencies
Markets
Hiro currently operates in:
- Malaysia — primary market
- Taiwan — active expansion
Merchant Payouts
Settlement to merchants works differently depending on the payment channel:
Kiosk payments (DuitNow QR / card swipe): The payment gateway settles directly to the merchant's bank account — Hiro is not in the fund flow.
DirectPay payments (QR on machine): Same as Kiosk — the payment gateway settles directly to the merchant. Hiro is not in the fund flow.
App wallet payments: Funds are held in Hiro Platform until the customer spends at an outlet. Once the transaction occurs, Hiro credits the merchant's balance and settles on a weekly cycle.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Weekly (App wallet transactions) |
| Minimum amount | None |
| Fees | None |
| Method | Bank transfer to merchant's registered account |
Regulatory Approach — Hiro Credit
Although the Hiro App functions as a wallet (customers top up before spending), Hiro does not handle e-money. Wallet balances are denominated and displayed as Hiro Credit — a closed-loop, non-monetary unit redeemable only within the Hiro ecosystem.
| Property | Hiro Credit |
|---|---|
| Denomination | Credits / points (not currency) |
| Scope | Closed loop — Hiro-enabled outlets only |
| Transferability | Non-transferable; cannot be used outside Hiro |
| Cash-out | Not supported as a default consumer feature |
This design intentionally avoids classification as e-money (which would trigger central bank licensing requirements in most jurisdictions). Fiat-currency handling stays with regulated payment gateways (Billplz, Fiuu, Revenue Monster) — Hiro never holds general-purpose money on consumers' behalf.
Strategic implication: this keeps Hiro outside the regulated e-money perimeter, which simplifies cross-market expansion. The trade-off is that Hiro Credit cannot become a general-purpose digital currency.
End-Customer Acquisition
Consumers discover and adopt the Hiro App through three primary channels:
| Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| Social media | Brand and lifestyle content on consumer-facing social platforms (organic + paid) |
| New-user promotions | First-time top-up bonuses, free-wash credits, and welcome discounts redeemed via the App |
| Outlet opening campaigns | When a new outlet joins the platform, the merchant runs in-outlet promotions (e.g. the 7-day free wash template) that drive App sign-ups from foot traffic |
These three channels are complementary — social media drives awareness, new-user promotions remove sign-up friction, and outlet openings convert local foot traffic at the moment of need.
B2B2C Dynamic
Hiro operates a B2B2C model: outlet owners (B2B) are the paying customers, but end consumers (B2C) are the daily users of Hiro App and Hiro Kiosk. Retention and loyalty features serve both sides — keeping consumers coming back benefits the operator, which reduces operator churn for Hiro.