Handing over keys can be a hassle. Allockate has a solution.

If we look around, it seems that almost the entire service sector is gradually moving towards self-service – from ordering food to booking services at a convenient time. However, companies find they run into difficulty when they want to put this idea into practice. This is particularly true when it comes to equipment rental, access to warehouses, lockers, or parcel machines without the presence of an employee. This is precisely the niche that Latvian technology company Allockate has found its place in. 

Allockate develops access control and self-service solutions that allow companies to automate access to lockers, parcel lockers, and warehouse spaces. The solution created by the company combines its own electronics and software, and its key advantage is modularity – the system can be adapted to specific needs or integrated into existing solutions without having to build everything from scratch. 

The company was founded in 2023, and its initial idea was completely different – a trailer rental platform with smart access. A mobile app, platform, and prototypes of “smart” locks were created, but it soon became clear that this direction was not sustainable. “The trailer market is small and fragmented, and customers often lack the motivation to invest in complex technological solutions,” recalls Allockate founder Eižens Poišs. 

However, working with customers revealed another, much broader problem – the market lacks easy-to-use, flexible access control systems that can be customised for various businesses. So Allockate remodelled its activities to focus on electronics and software development, specifically on access automation. 

The Allockate solution allows companies to provide secure and convenient access to premises or inventory: the customer books the service, receives an access code, arrives at a convenient time, opens the locker or parcel box, and picks up or returns the inventory without an in-person meeting, without handing over keys, and without the involvement of additional staff. 

“If we imagine that a person rents, for example, a SUP board or a trailer using a popular rental reservation platform, the booking is made digitally, but in practice, the owner often still has to deliver the rental item to the person somehow. We simply remove this step, and this approach can be adapted to a wide variety of business models,” Mr Poišs explains. 

Allockate has already established cooperation with four clients in Latvia, including the self-service warehouse Boxrent, industrial product trading company Berner, trailer rental company Amolat, which offers its services through a mobile app and makes trailers conveniently available at gas stations, as well as a ski service company (delivery and collection of equipment to and from the service centre). 

In cases where the customer does not yet have such lockers, they can be manufactured and installed from scratch – for example, Allockate cooperates with Latvian metalworking companies in the production of locker bodies. 

The company places particular emphasis on the fact that its solutions can also be integrated into existing lockers, replacing mechanical locks with smart access. In future, Allockate aims to become a supplier of access systems that other companies can easily integrate into their products. “We want to transition as quickly as possible to a model where we manufacture and supply the access system, but the customer integrates it into their own solution. Conceptually, it would be like separate modules that can be combined as needed: number of doors, connectivity, functions,” Mr Poišs explains. 

The company’s goal for the coming years is to collaborate with larger partners in Europe and the United States, where such systems can help to implement self-service solutions without investing disproportionately large amounts of money in developing individual solutions from scratch. 

Allockate has also used several state support instruments in its development. In cooperation with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), the company has used the support available to start-ups for the remuneration of highly qualified specialists, as well as the opportunities offered by the Digital Accelerator of Latvia – consulting and testing support. Looking ahead to the next stages of development and export, the company is currently considering other support programs, including LIAA incubation support. 

Information material prepared with the support of the European Regional Development Fund