Whoomies is a shared accommodation platform that provides tools for flatmates, landlords, agencies and coliving operators. You are providing both B2B and B2C solutions for the coliving sector; can you break down what these tools are and how you work with both colivers and coliving operators to enhance the shared living experience and overall market consolidation?

Whoomies’ mission is to create tomorrow‘s shared- housing rental experience. Consumers - especially millennials - are progressively adopting new lifestyles, as independence, flexibility, community and sharing are becoming their key values, congruent with changes in the society around them. Meanwhile, the traditional housing offer has not evolved over the past few decades, rendering it incapable of providing a relevant answer to current global societal challenges (such as housing affordability, flexibility, worker mobility and social isolation).

This is why housing alternatives (coliving, flatsharing, student accommodation, etc.) have been booming over the past years, both in terms of investments and market share. Our mission is to provide technological solutions to support this transition towards a moreflexible, community-oriented way of life; by making both shared-housing rental processes and communal living unique experiences.

Three years after Whoomies’ launch, we are very proud to have helped more than 100,000 users in their hunt for the ideal shared accommodation.
All our products integrate our in-house matching technology, enabling people to meet or to be allocated in flatshares according to their personality, budget, eating habits and much more, with one goal: helping them to form the best possible flatshares.

As of today, we have 3 different tools on the market:

• Whoomies / Whoomies App is the first mobile and online-booking platform dedicated to shared accommodations; live in France and London, it helps people match with their perfect flatmate while allowing them to find their ideal accommodation.
• Whoomies Pro is a dashboard for landlords and operators - allowing them to list their spaces, manage rental forms and online bookings - which is linked to Whoomies’ main booking platform.
• Whoomates empowers coliving and student accommodation providers by automating their room allocation processes and allowing them to have a better understanding of their residents.

‍

One of your tools is your matchmaking platform. How did you develop this platform and what did you have in mind when doing so? What are the features and capabilities of this platform and how does it stand out compared to other matchmaking tools?

Alexandre Assal, Whoomies’ co-founder, and myself had some unsuccessful flatshare experiences in the past, not only in France but also in the US and Singapore. These experiences helped us understand one critical thing about sharing accommodation: people are the key to a successful experience.

We wanted to create something completely different from traditional real estate marketplaces, with a deep focus on tenants and not only on listers.

We’ve decided to help solve the equation of shared- housing by building an interface where people can meet according to who they are and what they’re looking for, as well as to book a place at the same time. Our algorithm takes more than 100+ criteria into account - interests, hobbies, ways of life, preferences, schools and more - enabling people to connect with their ideal flatmate.

Our strength lies in understanding the market, tenants, listers and any other players from the inside-out. By combining our data, intel and other information gathered from all of our products, we have the possibility to have a strong understanding of our market and to adapt our products in a way that makes them unique.

‍

You also have a listing platform for coliving operators and other residential landlords. What is the benefit of using Whoomies to list yourself to potential colivers and what are some of its features?

Whoomies’ main platform is the first online booking marketplace dedicated to a wide range of shared accommodation models (i.e. student accommodation, coliving and flatshares).

From the beginning of the tenant’s journey of finding a new home, to the reservation of the room, Whoomies has turned shared accommodation rentals into a seamless, safe and efficient process for all parties: whether it’s tenants, landlords or operators.

Our features intend to:

• Optimise rental vacancy by providing qualified renters,
• Enhance the living experience through data analysis,
• Secure information thanks to background checks and GDPR compliant processes,
• Save time thanks to real-time notifications and applications

Our goal is therefore to empower coliving operators and other residential landlords in improving their rental processes, occupancy rates and lead conversion rates. By working on a booking-fee performance- based model, operators have every good reason to start working with us.

Whoomies has a community of more than 100,000 amazing people using our platform - coming from more than 90 countries, with a median age of 26 years old - so we are able to attract diverse tenants from everywhere for landlords and coliving operators using our platform.

The market is evolving fast to adapt itself to the needs of end-users, and we realise everyday how we can continue to improve the experience and add value on both the supply and demand side. Our goal is also

to leverage our knowledge on top of the data we’re analysing to be able to support operators developing their coliving projects and planning their launch.

‍

‍

Can you also talk about your ‘Whoomates’ tool for shared living providers? What is your experience working with Flatmates in Paris with this tool and how exactly are they using it? What are the ways the Whoomates tool facilitates engagement and enhances operations?

Whoomates, the first customised and automated room-allocation solution, was born out of the needs of a shifting industry. Millenials are looking for more flexibility than ever, they probably won’t ever be able to afford buying a home, but their expectations in terms of quality of life are nowhere near anything we’ve seen before.

The concept of Whoomates is straightforward: before moving in, residents complete a form (either online or via our app) that summarises their choices, what they are looking for (i.e. atmosphere, mixed-gender or gender-specific) and most importantly, who they are. For this last part, residents can choose among a range of tags, grouped by category (i.e. interest, lifestyle, personality and food habits). They can, for instance, find concepts such as “early bird”, “always late”,“workaholic” or “vegetarian”.

This form is of course customised to the specifics of the building and the type of audience. That means taking into account the different room types, amenities, habits and needs of an entrepreneurial audience.

To complete the process, residents are automatically assigned to their ideal spot in the building by our matching algorithm with the aim of creating a long-lasting and thriving community life. Using our algorithm-based technology to match people at a bigger scale is not only a time-saver, but also a game- changer in enhancing the shared accommodation experience.

Whoomates helps increase overall resident satisfaction and improve their daily lives in-house, while being a solid source of data-driven insights, ultimately making managers and operators more responsive to their residents’ needs and expectations. Our collaboration with Station F has enabled us to fine-tune our product. It has been an exciting challenge to meet the expectations of a residence that is striving to deliver a best-in-class customer experience, and we are really proud of having successfully matched more than 600residents so far in their ideal flatshare.

‍

‍

And finally, what are some insights you have learned along the way of developing all these solutions? Do you have any suggestions for smaller startups looking to get into the PropTech sector? What are some of the dos and don’ts when developing these kinds of solutions and what are some of the biggest learnings you have gathered along the way?

We see a lot of fascinating innovation happening around smart cities, within every field of the real estate space. Having built a human-centered marketplace based on our rich database and strong networks within the real estate sector, we now have a unique understanding of market needs, giving us a one of a kind positioning compared to other proptech players. The market is evolving fast to adapt itself to the needs of end users, and we realise everyday the value we can bring to improve the experience on both the supply and demand side of residential assets.

At Whoomies, we believe in building our product hand-in-hand with our partners; this is what allows us to bring them maximum value. Each player has its own process, and our flexibility and adaptability allows us to assist each of them accordingly and in the mostefficient way possible. We had to learn how to do this and it is a real milestone to achieve it. We are working together with our partners to achieve a common goal of performance, mutual success and value creation through innovation.

For smaller startups, we’d say: test as much as possible. Find 2-3 key players who will help you grow in the right direction and that can become your ambassadors. Also, contact other entrepreneurs and startups in the ecosystem for partnerships or simple exchanges. Launching a landing page or a beta version of your product is crucial to test your product-market-fit and your value proposition towards your future customers. Gather all the feedback you’ll get from your first users/clients in order to prioritise your product-roadmap.

In the context of global pandemic, housing has never been as important in people’s lives. Remote working has redefined our relationship with our homes, and social distancing has increased social isolation for individuals living alone. After the first lockdown in France, we saw a significant increase in the demand for coliving on our platforms: +30% per month on average in major cities throughout France. This creates a lot of opportunities for new businesses, and we believe that with our proptech solutions, we’re helping build a more conscious, sustainable and balanced housing sector and economy overall.

‍