Yellowbox

Yellowbox is an Australian company that builds smart locker hardware and cloud software for workplaces. Its system combines wired and wireless (Bluetooth-enabled) locker locks that can be retrofitted to existing lockers or cabinets with a mobile app and management dashboard. Users can find and book a locker by size and height, open it with a tap, view locker number, location and booking time, and set a PIN for phone-free access where available. Access methods include the mobile app, RFID card, Microsoft Outlook and Teams, Apple and Google Wallet, and touchscreen PIN entry.

Administrators configure locker types — permanent, hot, team, visitor, parcel, asset exchange or custom — alongside user management, custom branding and automated onboarding and offboarding. The platform is cloud-based with monthly feature releases, integrations with security access control, SSO/active directory and workplace applications, and a stated uptime of over 99.5%. The company claims more than 95% reduction in time spent managing lockers and up to 40% less floor space and fewer lockers required. It also publishes a white paper on locker planning and implementation drawing on workplaces across five continents.

The company originally operated a public smart locker network at venues such as beaches, gyms and transport hubs, where consumers hired lockers on demand through the app; it later refocused on corporate workplaces. Legal entity Yellowbox Co Pty Ltd is registered at Shop 102, 1-7 Pelican Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia.

Founding story

The concept originated with co-founder Vanessa Zhao, who completed a Bachelor of Commerce at UNSW Business School in 2018 and took a user experience design bootcamp at General Assembly, where an assignment to devise a business idea produced the initial Yellowbox concept, wireframes, name and logo. She then entered the Peter Farrell Cup at UNSW with three fellow students — Adrian Brossard, Ho Jun Tang and Ben Delaney — and the team placed second, winning $5,000 that funded initial MVP development. The four co-founded Yellowbox in 2019 and initially ran it alongside full-time corporate roles (Zhao spent a year as a graduate at Qantas), meeting after work to keep building. Acceptance into the UNSW 10x Accelerator, which imposed a launch deadline and early customer feedback, marked the turning point to full commitment.

Business model

Customers purchase Yellowbox locks up front and then pay a recurring monthly SaaS fee for the cloud management platform and app, a structure the company describes as making the business more scalable and stable. An earlier consumer model charged individuals for locker hire by time, with some sites offering free initial periods or free access to members (for example library members).

Up-front hardware sales of locks combined with a monthly per-customer SaaS subscription; historically also pay-per-use consumer locker rental fees.

Traction

The company website reports 10,243,825 annual locker opens, 529,217 active users and a 4.9 app rating, plus a 9/10 user experience rating. UNSW Founders describes tens of thousands of users across six countries. The Android app lists over 10,000 downloads; the iOS app holds a 4.9 rating from 737 ratings on the Australian App Store and 4.8 from 16 ratings on the US store. Yellowbox reports doubling revenue every year for the past five years.

Latest developments

In September the app was migrated to a modern mobile framework with a redesigned user interface (version 5.0.1), followed by releases through 5.0.5 adding manager interface and tooling improvements and fixing sign-in preservation for pre-5.0 installations. A UNSW BusinessThink feature published 17 September 2025 profiled co-founder Vanessa Zhao and described the company's focus on hybrid workplaces, Fortune 500 customers and partnerships including Canon.