It's raining, it's pouring, it's Vancouver. If you're among the many who find themselves caught in a downpour without an umbrella from time to time, you might want to make note of this new umbrealla-sharing service that's launched in downtown Vancouver.
UmbraCity was created by Amir Entezari and Babak Assadsangabi. The business offers automated kiosks from which you can borrow umbrellas when it’s raining. The service was tested at UBC, and UmbraCity has long been aiming to expand into the downtown core.
As of October 25, 2018, UmbraCity now has 23 kiosks and 6,000 branded bright yellow umbrellas for paid borrowing in higher density areas within Downtown Vancouver including office buildings, residential buildings, venues, hotels, and retails.
A map illustrates where in Vancouver there are UmbraCity kiosks.
Residents and commuters in Downtown Vancouver can now borrow umbrellas for as low as $1 for 24 hours. The company offers plans for partner businesses or institutions so that their employees, tenants, or students can make use of the service; among those partnerships are companies like Oxford Properties, Vancouver Convention Centre, Terminal City Club, Westbank Properties Corp, Waves Coffee House, Bosa Properties, Blue Horizon Hotel, and Rancho Property Services.
“UmbraCity looks forward to keeping Vancouver dry in the coming months and we invite interested properties to reach out and join the network.” said Jamie Pitblado, the Director of Business Development at UmbraCity.
With files from Brenna Temple