- Quick Pitch
- Posts
- Roome
The Market
Students need to find housing but in most UK cities there are more students than there is accommodation. Currently, students coming through clearing don’t have accommodation and so are forced to reject their place at university.
This week's business solves two major problems:
Lost opportunities for students to go to university because they can’t find suitable accommodation.
Millions of pounds in lost revenue for universities every year.
One Liner
Roome is the only 360 degree housing solution for students in the UK.
Roome is a marketplace that matches housemates to find the right accommodation.
Universities lose 6.4% of their students each year to housing issues. They solves this issue and save universities between £1 and £25 million each year in revenue.
Quickfire
Headquarters: Remote (UK wide).
Employee count: 2 Full time, several contractors and advisors.
Investors: Several Angel Investors.
Funding amount: £500k.
Business model: Selling software to universities:
Web application: Insights and data about the off campus student housing market.
Student mobile app: Offering the ability to find housemates and appropriate accommodation.
Traction metrics: 5,000 users across Beta. Currently in full launch with 3 university contracts and around 10 in the pipeline that are close to signing.
Due DiligenceAPPEALSMarket Opportunity: Roome are the first mover in their space that uses their specific model, housemate matching with aggregating accommodation. Two sided benefits: Not only do students benefit from better matched housemates and finding cheaper accommodation, universities save millions making it a no-brainer for them. | POTENTIAL RISKSUniversities slow in signing agreements: The contract pipeline for universities needs to be large enough to account for slow action from universities. Marketing efforts to students are not effective: Students are forced to make a quick decision in a time of high stress. Roome’s marketing efforts sometimes aren’t enough to convert students to accept their place and use them. Students able to study from home: Some students simply don’t need the service that Roome provides. It’s a focus that the Roome team has solid ways to identify them apart from students that do. |
Competition
No direct competition based on the model, housemate matching with aggregating accommodation.
There are other players like StudentPad and Hybr which do work closely with universities and accommodation for students. Roome however classed these as partners as they would direct students to their properties.
Founders
Co-founder, Owen Redman. Previously a student at Bath University (Bsc Economics)
Co-founder, James Buck. Previously a student at Surrey University (Bsc Accounting & Finance)